Live and Learn
by Child at Heart Forever
Summary: SA2 adaption- What started as a mistaken identity quickly turns into a race to save the world as Sonic and friends try to stop Eggman, a 'Fake' hedgehog and a peculiar bat. But they'll all learn that there's a dark side and a light side to everything...
1. Enter the Ultimate Lifeform

Live and Learn

Prologue: Enter the Ultimate Lifeform

**21:02**  
**Prison Island: Inside the Base-**

_"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Security breach at gate 3! Intruder has been located in the North Quadrants and is moving in the direction of the underground base! All unite prepare to engage! Emergency battle formations! Standard Battle Procedures initiated! Locate and stop the intruder from entering the security area! This is not a drill! Repeat: This is not a drill…"_

Dr. Ivo Robotnik, otherwise nicknamed by his arch nemesis and probably forever doomed to Eggman, just recently broke into a tight security prison. Only he knew the reasons behind his intrusion, sealed by an evil smirk. No mere security walls were a match for his Egg Walker, blowing up everything in sight.

"Mwahahahaha! That was all too easy!" he cackled as he fought his way deeper into the prison. "Let's take a look at what my grandfather was working on…a top secret military weapon! The military shut down the research because they feared it!"

That bit of info was enough to make Eggman giddy with joy- a weapon that even the military feared? All they had to do was look at and he could take over the entire world! He let out another bellow of a laugh before shooting down another door and continuing to make his way through.

"Level 1 security door breached."

"Nothing will stand in my way…" Eggman growled. Security robots arrived to stop the intruder, but they were blown to pieces within seconds of entering Eggman's sight. Boxes were knocked down, after being left deserted for who knew how many years, and Eggman descended to a lower part of the floor. He made a left and destroyed another round of robots with his missiles. It was so nice of the prison warrens to put red arrows on the walls, leading him straight to where no one should be headed in the first place.

"Lever 2 security door breached."

Eggman stepped into the second level, onto an elevator that started to descend. More machines appeared to stop Eggman, so the doctor had his blasting-work cut out for him. One came in on the left- bam! Another one on the right- pow! One behind him? It was history! One falling down from the sky? Not anymore! Eggman rocketed over to a hidden sector, where normal intruders couldn't reach without a flying machine. More red arrows vibrantly stood out on the walls, and Eggman smirked before detonating another Level 2 door.

"So much for the top criminal facility around!"

Eggman blasted a security camera and kept an eye on those red arrows. At the end of his current hall, a Level 3 door slid shut. Eggman rolled his eyes and removed that "threat" also.

"Level 3 security door breached. Intruder has breached sections 3-8. Get him."

Obviously nothing could get him because he was charging right through and getting closer to the top secret destination. The Level 4 door wasn't too far away, and the robot guards certainly didn't add to the challenge.

"Level 4 security door breached."

Another elevator type-platform was at the entrance to Level 4, and Eggman waited semi-patiently as it took him way down. Those blaring sirens were starting to make Eggman's head ring, and the robots in the area weren't helping matters either.

"Away with you, you pests!" hissed the doctor, shooting all robots to their doom. Once the elevator stopped, Eggman marched proudly toward Level 5. Crates became nothing but practice targets, and that Level 5 door- wait, what Level 5 door?

"Lever 5 security door breached. Switch to emergency defense mode. Lockdown final security doors."

Eggman paid no attention to the broadcasting voice and demolished a door with a "Level 6" on it. Beyond that was another door exactly like it.

"Is this really the best they can do?"

He stormed into a lower area, more than ready to obtain that ultimate weapon. Robots in the area were taken out, and the same could be said for yet another Level 5 door. Just as Eggman was about to make another comment, a stronger security door with a "G" on it slammed shut and prevent any further access. Eggman just gave a minute nod.

"Hmph. At least they stepped it up a little."

Eggman got past the first door by activating a "G" missile- why that was there to counteract the whole purpose of the door itself was beyond him. Unless, of course, only geniuses should be able to figure out the code to activate the missile in the first place. The Egg Walker jumped down, and Eggman silently cheered; he had reached his goal.

Eggman was feeling so joyful he unintentionally burst out with one of his enemy's catchphrases- "Hahaha! Piece of cake…"

He now stood before a huge rusty door with a large yellow "Level 7" on it, and Eggman already knew that no amount of explosives could get through that thing. He had hacked into the system before he entered the base- unfortunately not able to turn off the alarms- so he was able to get through the door anyway.

"Oh ho!" he gasped in awe. His walker stomped up to some sort of containment device, glowing in neon blues and greens. "So this is the military's top secret weapon? It's a lot smaller than I expected. Enter user data…aha, enter password…" Eggman reached out of his ride and started typing on a nearby keyboard. "Password is MA-RI-A. Maria! Now all I have to do is place the Chaos Emerald into this console…"

He pulled out the white Chaos Emerald and placed it into said console. Once he did, the room suddenly got dimmer. Eggman jumped down into a deeper part of the room as a containment unit of some sort arose out of a sparking mist of electricity. Eggman sighed deeply in hypnotized awe as the thing reached the top.

The last thing he expected was a hedgehog to pop out and boldly fold his arms in the doctor's presence.

"What's that! Is that you, Sonic? Are you trying to spoil my plans again?" Eggman boomed.

The hedgehog did resemble Sonic slightly- but he was far from being Sonic himself. First off, this mystery hedgehog had black fur, red eyes, turned up quills with red streaks, hover shoes instead of racing sneakers, a white patch of fur replacing a furless tummy, a tanner muzzle, and finally, four golden rings bound around his wrists and ankles, fasten with red and black cuffs.

"Wait a minute…" Eggman finally said, noticing the differences. "You're not Sonic! This is impossible!"

The hedgehog just looked down at Eggman with a slight glare- definitely the opposite of a smirk from Sonic. He began to speak in a smooth, yet dark voice. "My name is Shadow. Since you've been so kind to release me, my master, I will grant you one wish."

Eggman suddenly snapped out of 'Shadow's' sudden appearance and turned to look behind him. "Now what!"

"Behold the true power I possess!" Shadow exclaimed, now flying in the air due to his hover shoes. With a quick spin, he vanished in a blue streak of light.

"This is Scorpion Troop's Hot Shot. Enemy movement has been detected." A military robot had been sent to dispatch the intruder- aka Eggman. "En route to intercept and destroy."

"Copy that."

Hot Shot rose into the air as Shadow appeared to take him on. He moved with swift speed that would be actually comparable to Sonic, but that was only due to the boost from his shoes. Shadow jumped onto top of the crate and struck a fierce fighting pose while staring up at Hot Shot. It flew over head and went to the other side of the fighting area.

"Witness my true power…"

Hot Shot came swooping toward Shadow, getting ready to strike him right off the crate. Shadow, however, was faster and jumped up, spinning straight into Hot Shot and dealing quite the blow. Eggman watched with wide eyes as Shadow did a light speed dash to charge up for the next attack.

"He's very similar to Sonic…but his outlook definitely betrays that."

Shadow skidded around a corner and went flying onto another stack of crates. Hot Shot was currently trying to target Shadow, but its efforts were completely useless. A weak orb of power was easily dodged by Shadow and ended up blowing up a stack of the crates.

"Pathetic…" Shadow huffed as he took off into the air and struck Hot Shot once more. The security robot shook as its power was slowly being drained. As a last resort, Hot Shot flew all over the place dropping bullets, and Eggman was slightly impressed when he saw that Shadow wasn't phased. He made sure to take notes of the battle.

"Hmm…he doesn't just throw himself at the robot- he waits for the right time to strike! And he strikes different places with several small hits instead of just plowing into it with one massive blow! Interesting…"

Shadow stood in one spot, allowing Hot Shot to fire missiles at him. With a scoff, he jetted forward, allowing the projectiles to hit where he just was and attack the bottom of the robot.

"This is Scorpion Troop's Hot Shot! The enemy is stronger than expected! Request additional support!"

"No one can stand up to me!" Shadow said acidly, taking off high into the air and crashing straight down onto the hot Shot. A pained scream came from the inside.

"He is too strong!"

"There's no time to play games…" Shadow grunted while turning to Eggman for his reaction.

Eggman just had his jaw dropped. "Destroying that guard robot was spectacular!"

He coughed, then glanced at Shadow who had turned away, lost in thought. "So, Shadow…YOU are the military's top secret weapon? But what did you mean when you said you will grant me a wish?"

Shadow hardly turned, yet Eggman felt like he was staring straight at him. "Bring more Chaos Emeralds."

"Shadow, wait!"

Shadow just gave a grin of other intentions. "I'll be waiting for you in the central control room on the Space Colony ARK…"

He started to walk away as Eggman slammed his fists on his dash board. "ARK?"

Shadow said nothing more and went about his own business. Eggman couldn't sit back down, couldn't close his jaw, and he was struck speechless.

**Later that very night-**

In the heart of Station Square, now mainly fixed up from the damage that the "Chaos Flood" has caused so long ago, was the Federal Reserve Bank- the only one in the city, to be in fact. In the heart of that bank, was the green Chaos Emerald, on high display and under tight security.

"…"

Within seconds, the glass was broken and the Emerald was stolen. By the time the thief made his way back outside, the military was surrounding him. A sinister grin came next, directed at the unworthy challenge. Lasers were blasted, but the purloiner was too fast for them. Every laser was easily sidestepped. Once the barrage stopped, the culprit started up one of his own- it was like spears were raining down from the sky, taking out any and all military machines on the spot. In the midst of the confusion, then Emerald-poacher ran…knowing he'd have to keep it low for awhile. No matter how long it would take.

* * *

**It has arrived earlier than expected! Yay! Ah, what a love-hate relationship I have with this story...I love it because it was incredibly fun to write, but I hate it because at certain parts I got confused (but I believe I've straightened myself out) and I'm just afraid I've messed something up. That's just me being negative- this'll will be great! But, I must say, I still think I like Open Your Heart a little better. Hopefully this one will be just as good. ;)**

**And a note- there's a TON of song references in this story, most noticebly in the next chapter. ^^; (and there's at least one in this one)**


	2. Kicking Rocks, Escaping Cities

Live and Learn

Chapter 1: Kicking Rocks, Escaping Cities

**11:08**  
**Desert Area-**

At this time, Knuckles the Echidna was in a fight.

No, not a fist fight, but a fight of something that was definitely beyond him: he was in a verbal fight.

With a strange bat girl that actually didn't look half bad-

Knuckles abruptly cut off his thoughts and struck a battle pose. He'd feel much more at ease if it was psychical. And anyone who considered stealing the Master Emerald definitely deserved it!

"Just…let it go! You just don't know when to give up, do you!" shouted the mysterious bat.

Knuckles just blinked. "What are you talking about? That Emerald's mine!" He held up a fist, equipped with a Shovel Claw he acquired long ago and glared at her. "You got that? The Master Emerald contains special powers that neutralize the energy of the Chaos Emeralds! That makes it very powerful."

He shook his head while explaining- it was a shame he was the only one who understood the importance. When he opened his eyes again, his entire body lurched forward._ "What the-"_

"Whaaa-thief!" screamed the bat. Knuckles gave her a look. She was trying to steal the Master Emerald not even three seconds ago! And now some claw just lowered down out of the sky and scooped up the Master Emerald like a crane machine prize!

"Look who's calling who a thief!"

"I came here following the signal of the Emerald…If I'm not mistaken; this is the Master Emerald, is it not?" the new thief, this one egg-shaped in origin, mused to himself.

_"He should know- he stole it before!"_ Knuckles felt fire burn in his eyes. "It's you…Dr. Eggman!"

"So _that's _Dr. Eggman!" the bat hummed to herself. She certainly picked up a tad of useful info!

Eggman just ignored their useless realizations that he was him. He already knew he "was the Eggman" already. "Well, I guess I can use it for something. I'll just take it with me. Farewell, knucklehead."

Knuckles growled and prepared to jump. Who did that madman think he was, showing up in the middle of a showdown, stealing his Emerald and calling him a knucklehead! "Not if I can help it!"

He glided up, slightly cringing when he struck the Master Emerald with his powerful fist and sending Eggman flying. He never would've thought he'd be the one shattering the emerald…

…And yet it seemed like that bat girl was in more emotional pain than him!

"AAAAaaaaaahhh!" She threw herself into a frenzy, grabbed Knuckles by the shoulders, and violently shook him. "What was THAT all about! And look what you did to my Emerald!"

Knuckles shoved her off and staggered away. "I did that to prevent the Master Emerald from being stolen, you idiot! If it's in pieces, I can restore it." He pointed a deadly first in her direction. "And by the way, that's not YOUR emerald!"

While they were arguing, Eggman was grumbling to himself as he flew away. "Hmm…doesn't matter. I'll look into it once I get back to the base."

The albino bat just stared after Eggman, anger boiling up inside of her. "I despise anyone who takes jewels from me! All the world's gems are mine to keep!"

"Yeah, we'll see about that, Bat Girl!"

Knuckles ran off and jumped off the edge of the cliff, already headed to put back his Master Emerald.

"Hey! I'm not letting you get away!"

She started to fly after Knuckles, but then thought it would be smart if she searched somewhere completely different….

. . .

"That stupid Bat Girl!" Knuckles hissed to himself as he scoured Wild Canyon, which was just below the cliff where he had shattered the Emerald. "If she hadn't showed up and started babbling nonsense, Eggman wouldn't have seized the chance, and I wouldn't have had to shatter my Master Emerald! Neither of them understands that by guarding the Master Emerald, I'm representing the echidnas, and that's a great honor in itself!"

He pounded his fist into the nearest rock and snarled. "I'm gonna get those fools…they wanna play with MY emeralds? They're playing with the wrong guy!"

Knuckles stood silently, moving around the Wild Canyon. Way back when Tikal was around (er, around in sparkle form), she had explained to Knuckles that he had a great connection with the Master emerald, and that when it was in pieces, he'd be able to use that connection to find them all. Sometimes annoying, but it also came in handy. His sense currently directed him to the center of the canyon where a strong wind was blowing things upward. Knuckles glided into the pillar of air, wind catching dreadlocks, and bringing him up there.

"Okay…one of the pieces should be around here…"

He flew up to a nearby ledge with a few crates, his sense going crazy as he got closer. Knuckles barely missed the edge- he slammed his knuckles spurs into the rock then climbed on up. Bam- right in front of his face was the first glorious shard of the Master Emerald.

"Radical," he murmured, snagging it and storing it away. "Now for the other two…"

Knuckles let his senses guided him again as his mind drifted off into thought.

"Wild Canyon? Fun? I've gotta chase a bat, huh? Yeah Rouge- she's sexy and smooth-"

His mind screeched to a halt, his senses started going crazy, and his face began to turn red.

"She's a double cross spot thief that's out for my jewels, nothing else," the echidna growled under his breath though no one was around to hear him anyway. "Then why am I feeling her in mysterious ways?"

The familiar "dinging" sound was tugging at the back of Knuckles' mind, his senses telling his brain another emerald piece was close. He was on the other side of where the wind had blown him up, where a dark hole resided. Knuckles jumped down, stumbled a bit upon landing in the shifting sand, tripped over a nearby rock (effectively smashing it), and getting his second emerald.

"…I really have to question the places some of these land in…"

Knuckles dusted himself off, glad no one was around to see him fall, then placed that emerald with the first one.

"This is why I stay on point every single day…ain't nobody gonna come here and eat my plate, no! Yo what happened? My Emeralds' gone!"

One more to go…now where did THIS end up at? Knuckles gave his head a light tap, as if to joggle his sense a little more. He suddenly got some fuzzy vision about a mountain with red and green stripes…whatever that meant. Knuckles, trusting his instincts, instantly searched for something along those lines. Since he couldn't find anything in the lower area, he returned to the upper on and almost immediately started feeling that the Emerald was somewhere near. As in right in front of him.

Knuckles cocked his head as he watched the very Master Emerald piece just float along the side of a red and green striped part of the canyon. He reached over and grabbed it, saying, "I found em'! I feel good!"

His confidence definitely boosted, Knuckles stared strolling out of the canyon, feeling pretty sure of himself.

"Somebody gonna get theirs quick- my word is sworn. Who could'a did this? That stitch named Rouge!"

He pounded his knuckles together, glancing at the Shovel Claws attached.

"When I catch her, Imma get her with these tools…"

The thought of Rouge messed up his thoughts once again- and just when he was starting to be in a great mood too! He bared his fangs while climbing back up to the area of the canyon he had entered in so he could make his way out and find the rest of the pieces. Once he did, he looked up and saw Rouge flying to wherever she was going to get her own emerald pieces. Doing a double take, Knuckles was instantly thrown into a frenzy and started tearing through the woods around the canyon after his rival.

"There you are, come here you little thief! Think you gon' fly and get away quick? Uh, uh!"

He jumped up off the ground and started gliding after her, anger completely spiked. Though, he wasn't even sure why. He wasn't even THIS mad when Chaos broke the Master Emerald, and now when HE'S the one to break the emerald, and Knuckles was completely furious at a bat girl for trying to smuggle in on the treasure. Was he just mad at himself and needed someone to blame? Jealous that there was another treasure hunter about?

"Give up the Emeralds or _die_- I don't love you!"

Or that. That could definitely be another option.

**13:27**  
**Above the capital city-**

A military plane-copter cut across the blue sky, usually signaling a great day, but not today…

The military solider sitting next to the prisoner happened to glance down at him- his mouth was pressed into a straight line.

"You're awfully quiet…"

The comment was returned with a sharp, "So what? Guess I'm not feeling too chatty…"

Another solider yelled for him to watch his mouth and threatened to give him a harmful punishment once they locked him up.

Meanwhile, the pilot was informing the tower of their current status.

"Sigma-Alpha 2 heading due south over the city. We're en route, everything's a go!"

"This is control tower: we have you on radar. Report cargo status of captured hedgehog aboard, over!"

"That's a 10-4. Cargo secured on board and…What!"

"Didn't copy that, over!"

"The hedgehog is gone! He's taken out everyone on board and…"

"What's wrong? Come in, over!"

"What in the _world_-"

Sonic the Hedgehog kicked out the door of the plane, jumped out, and held tight to the wing. A pair of broken handcuffs dangled from his left wrist.

"Freeze! What do you think you're doing! Get that hedgehog!"

Sonic glanced down, cringed, and swung himself to the top of the plane.

"Talk about low-budget flights! No food or movies? I'm outta here!" Sonic exclaimed. He tore off a piece of the plane and gave the men aboard the plane a salute. "I like running better!"

He jumped off, now with a custom made all-purpose snowboard and freefell out of the sky. Sonic smirked, and then did several 360s on his way down.

"Yeah!"

Sonic landed on a slanted road in the capital city, and the cops were sure to chase him. He wasted no time in pushing off and shredding the street.

_"Attention all units. Subject seen headed south! Block all major roads can capture the suspect!"_

Sonic ignored the sound of the announcement echoing over the city and ran over a ramp. Once air borne, he spun around and did tricks like Tony Hawk, cheering "Whoo hoo!"

Despite the fact he was arrested last night for stealing a Chaos Emerald out of the bank-which he would obviously never do, Sonic was feeling great. The wind was rushing through his quills, he was going at a high speed, and he figured they'd figure out the misunderstanding and let him go. But, just in case…he knew people were watching, since that bulletin was broadcasted to everyone, and people would certainly be on the lookout. What to do? Tell them they had the wrong guy by far!

"Hi! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic said to no one in particular as he just missed getting hit by a blue car. "I'm sure you've all heard of me- you know, that blue hero rolling around at the speed of sound? Yeah, that's me!"

He turned a corner and waved at a woman driving a black sports car. The woman instantly flipped out and attempted to stop him, but Sonic sped by and she ended up causing a traffic jam in the street.

"I'd stay arrested…you know, if it WAS my fault, but I've got places to go-gotta follow my rainbow. I can't stick around; have to keep moving on…"

Sonic drifted around another turn, nearly skinning a tree, and blasted over a ramp. He threw his hands and did a back flip. People were staring to stare, and he was hoping he was getting more good attention than bad.

"Guess what lies ahead? Only one way to find out!" Sonic called to a group of people who had gathered. "Must keep on moving ahead-please don't stop me! No time for guessing, follow my plan instead!"

"Look! There's the hedgehog the military is lookin' for mom!" a little boy gasped, pointing and tugging on his mom's shirt.

"Yeah, I see…but did he really steal from a bank?" the mother replied.

"I dunno! I hope not- Sonic's a hero!"

Sonic grinned at them as he swerved through a curved part of the road."Danger is lurking around every turn…trust your feelings, got to live and learn!"

The little boy grinned back and happily skipped ahead of his mom. Sonic looked back, almost satisfied with knowing someone knew he was innocent. When he turned back around, he crashed into a parked taxi cab and, since he was still going downhill, sent that car into several others, like a set of dominoes!

"I know with some luck that I'll make it through. Got no other options, only one thing to do!"

"Fix my car, punk!" shouted a man who had his vehicle crushed.

"Yeah, I just finishing paying it off!" added another, who was mad about his truck. Sonic shook his head and gained some more air via another ramp. He didn't do a too show-offy of a trick- though he landed on a trolley car by accident.

"I don't care what lies ahead-no time for guessing, I'll follow my plan instead!"

Sonic lost his board, flew over a large metal fence, and landed perfectly on his feet. An angry mob was after him for all the accidentally destruction. Sonic gulped and rushed off, a little excited to be running again. This excitement burned out a little when the robot security fighters started to fall out of the sky- they were catching up with him, or at least keeping pretty good track. Sonic ducked under a bridge and sprinted over stairs- jail was not on his agenda today!

"Especially for something that I didn't do!"

He ignored another robot also on patrol and burst through a set of crates blocking his escape.

"I'm trusting in what I can't see…"

Faith. Hope. Luck. And a miracle. When was the military this much on guard when a God of Destruction was on the loose? But have a guy that's supposedly the national hero rob a bank, oh please- send out the FBI!

Sonic grinded down a stair railing- that was one of his new things. He got some cool looking new shoes- before he got arrested, of course- and since they looked kinda rounded at the arch, Sonic randomly tried to ride a rail with them, and it worked! Thrilled, he practiced with his new shoes, then his old ones- and just like that, he could grind any rail with any kind of footwear! He put his new ones back on because, as he said, they did look really cool.

"Stop!" shouted yet another robot that was after Sonic. "There is no resisting arrest from us!"

Sonic scoffed, "I'll make it through, I will escape from the city…"

He jumped up, gave the bot a kick, then accidentally blasted another trolley train right of the road with a burst of speed. As Sonic continued to run, he started to notice that the roads were beginning to get blocked off, meaning that the broadcast was being put into effect.

"Greeeaaatt…"

Sonic took out the stress by doing as many difficult tricks as he could after speeding over a few boost pads and a ramp, even jumping over a large tree! Then, speed took over. He rushed up brick steps, bounded off walls, grinded down and entire stair railing, and ran up a wall.

"It makes it hard to believe I'm running from the law…"

He then used a nearby spring to bounce him to a separate area- those roadblocks weren't going to stop him from getting out of there! He even passed a giant green billboard with a picture of him on it; wasn't that a good thing! Sonic grunted and just kept taking off, looping around with a road and rushing down a building. Right as Sonic neared the bottom; he crashed into a spring and went flying to safety.

"Not to be mean…" Sonic thought. "…but people can be really stupid. And those stupid people are spreading the stupidity all over the city! And they said stupidity isn't a virus…I say ha to that!"

He boomed through a trio of robots, putting them out of commission to reach another grind rail that went down three sets of stairs instead of just one.

"I'll make it through…I'll prove it to you…"

Sonic ducked under a blocked off sign, snickering at how those stupid people thought that was going to keep him away. All was well…until a mad truck was suddenly bent on running him over! It was huge! So huge, it was knocking parked cars all over the place- from both sides of the street! Sonic was thankful boost pads were everywhere, because the downhill slant made it so the truck was moving faster than it usually should have.

"And I thought the whale was bad!"

Sonic yelped every time he turned the corner- the mutant truck went into the air briefly then came crashing down and practically sent out a shockwave! He also found himself constantly ducking under dispatched trees and flying cars that actually weren't his fault for ruining or flipping. Finally, Sonic ran over a narrow clearance tunnel, and heard the satisfying sound of the truck slamming into a wall. Sonic braked to a stop, panting, and looked back.

"Just made it…" he huffed. "I'm not really sure what that was about, but I'm safe…at least, for now…"

* * *

**A plate of cookies for anyone who can guess the two pretty easy to find songs refered to in this chapter! ^^**

**Anywho, now that I reread this, I like this chapter a little better! Of course the TRUE action starts next chapter (where it's all about the Dark side for 3-4 chapters) so yay for that! Was this chapter good? It's up to you, tell me in a review! (if you want to. ^^)**


	3. Vengence is Mine

Live and Learn

Chapter 2: Vengeance is Mine

Rouge, as was the Bat Girl's name, was absolutely not impressed with where she ended up.

"Ugh! A place like "Dry Lagoon" MUST somehow damage a girl's delicate skin…" she groaned. "But, my excellent treasure hunting skills tell me there's three pieces of that beautiful emerald in this area…"

She walked toward the center of the area, where a lone turtle was floating around in a well. Her treasure hunting senses were kicking in- oddly, in an ability uncanny to Knuckles' connection with the Master Emerald. The bat climbed onto the turtle's back and struck a sitting pose.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where a shiny green gem landed, would you?" she smirked. "I know there's one around here, so it'd be in your interest to show me…"

The turtle made a small noise, then suddenly submerged deeper into the well. As Rouge started to panic, since she couldn't fly if her wings were wet for too long, the turtle brought her to a hidden cavern, as if it was on the flipside of the well itself. She hopped off the turtle's back as her instinct started to sense the emerald's presence.

"Excellent- I've already got the first one in my sights!" she exclaimed, running toward where odds and ends of boxes were scattered about. She performed her trademark move- a devastating kick- but despite the fact her senses were going bonkers, the piece was not within anything she had just crushed.

"What the-" Rouge suddenly had the nagging feeling to turn around, and when she did- BING! Master Emerald Piece! Gasping at its beauty, she swooped over and snagged it, squealing, "Jammin'! Only two more here!"

She placed her newly acquired gem in her stash for safe keeping-after admiring it for quite a decent amount of time- and sought out the remaining two. Rouge returned to the turtle and told it to take her back. The turtle refused, until she gave it a loving stroke and the girl could've sworn that turtle couldn't move any faster.

"Thanks, hon!" she giggled, giving the retile a wink and walking away from what she realized was the "dry lagoon". "Now to find the rest of my treasure…"

She jumped off a rock, taking off into the air to search for the emeralds in higher ground. Almost instantly she felt the sensation kick in, and she began to actually kick things in return. One lucky kick revealed another emerald shard lying inside.

"Hm, what are the odds of this beaut landing in there?" Rouge hummed to herself. "Which reminds me…I wonder why that rugged echidna was so dedicated to keeping this jewel away from me? After all, a steel guy like him doesn't have the appreciation of fine gems like I do…" She slipped her second piece away while snickering, "…and so, I'd take much better care of this Master Emerald, once I collect all the pieces…"

Speaking of, her ears started to twitch, as if it could actually hear where the next piece was. She grinned, flashing her fangs, and then let herself fall off the edge. A palm tree was right beneath her, holding the final piece right on top of the tree. Rouge grabbed a leaf, flung herself up, then did a stylish flip and grabbed the piece.

"Hm! It's all too easy for me…" she smirked, flying down and beginning to strut away. Rouge pulled out her three pieces, despite being increasing careful to put them safely away, and gazed into them.

"Ah…they're just so beautiful…which makes me think- why did Dr. Eggman want the emerald too? He sure seemed pretty keen on taking it, and unlike most villains he didn't spew out his plan so I could obtain his objective."

She tossed the pieces into the air, snagged them, and then tucked them back away. Her large black wings spread out behind her as she took off into the sky.

"Perhaps I'll pay that old man a visit…and maybe strike a bargain with him…"

. . .

Later that night, in the downtown area of Station Square, Shadow stood on top of the red bridge in the middle of Radical Highway, watching as the police cars piled up onto each other at the sight of their criminal. He didn't even think they were worthy of a head shake.

"How pathetic."

. .

_Running. They were running, though a metallic hallway of some sort. Alarms were blaring, and sight was warped by a reddish hue. Deep panting could be heard._

_"Find them before they escape!" someone called._

_"Maria!"_

_A blonde girl in blue stood in front of a control panel of some sort. Shadow was trapped in a containment unit, pressing against the glass and wondering, "What!"_

_"Shadow…I beg of you…please do it for me…"_

_"Maria!" Shadow yelled._

_"For all the people on that planet…sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog…"_

_"Maria…"_

_. ._

"I still remember what I promised you…" Shadow murmured, visibly tense. "For the people of this planet, I promise you…**_revenge!"_**

Shadow growled and grinded down the bridge's support beam, sparks flying from under his shoes and chipping off the red paint of the metal parts. Just thinking about Maria made Shadow's spines sharpen.

"I don't have time for these humans…" he snarled, bounding up another spire as the sounds of sirens and cops rang through his ears. Shadow easily evaded the detonating bombs they launched while blasting right on through a turnpike. He went so fast he rolled up into ball form and veered down the road with its never-ending twists, turns, and random loops.

"They have no need to for this Chaos Emerald like I do…" Shadow uncurled and glanced at the yellow Chaos Emerald he'd stolen from the bank that morning. Apparently, they had "caught" the hedgehog responsible, but here he was, still on the run. The only reason he was being chased now was because he _may_ have vandalized a few things while tearing through the city like a violent storm.

"Grr…road closed ahead…" Shadow grumbled at the flashing neon green sign. He grabbed onto a construction hook that helpfully pulled him up to a higher section of the highway. When he landed, he was slightly disturbed to see a random missile just…sitting there. Go figure. Despite being wary, he grabbed onto it anyway, shooting through the air and letting go when he was above the other side of the highway.

"That works…"

He charged up power, and then took off in a ball once again. The road was closed because it was apparently unfinished, as Shadow quickly found out when he narrowly avoided falling through the road due to construction. A yellow beam happened to be his savior- not that he couldn't save himself anyway. And, even more anyway, the road ended and he was freefalling alongside a skyscraper.

Shadow focused his inner energy, and then spin dashed himself to safety.

"Here we go."

Shadow's hover skates turned on, and now he was blasting even faster along the road. He lost the cops completely now, not that they were ever a threat, but now a line of robots surrounded the area. The ebony hedgehog snorted at the patheticness of the situation and plowed right through anything mechanical. They burst into flames, but Shadow skated right on by. He bounded off a spring, latched onto a hook, and then took off upwards to another missile rocket. Reluctantly he grabbed on again, only to be forced to let go because it exploded before necessary… and now Shadow was falling probably 15 stories.

"Hrrr…RAH!"

Shadow did a flip, then struck his fist below him as a blue aura seemed to radiate around him. He plunged back toward the pavement at record speed, ready to take it head on. When he crashed back down, parts of the road flew up as a shockwave emitted from Shadow. Shadow was completely unfazed from the move- he had simply channel the crash's impact away from him- and bolted off again. The hedgehog rushed through a loop in the road, ran a ramp, landing in the middle beam of the bridge's support, then sprung up onto another unreachable section of road. He jumped up again, grabbed hold of a bar, and then swung himself across a large chasm.

"Interesting."

Another road block was ahead, so Shadow skidded a corner and limboed under a hot steam roller. He felt nothing. He then jetted into a tunnel, jumping over another roadblock and bounding off any debris and objects that rested inside.

"How long does this thing go on for!" hissed Shadow, now running down a steeper part of the road. There was a pointless fork in the road- both paths had loops and lead to the same spot- though Shadow took the left one just because he could. He then realized he was falling- while at the same time being literally bounced down the length of the wall of a cylinder of some sort. Weird. Shadow then landed on MORE road. He groaned- this was taking way too long.

"Huh?"

A helicopter could be heard overhead, flashing its blue spotlight on Shadow as he ran through a corkscrew. Shadow sneered at it and disappeared in a black blur- it couldn't catch him now! But then, as he looked back, Shadow could tell it was locked onto some other target.

"Perchance the hedgehog they captured this morning got loose…" he mused quietly. "Hmph, his loss. I've got what I need, and he can feel free to take my spot of what these people call "criminal activity". In reality, I'm just doing Maria justice…"

. .

Sonic, meanwhile, had been wandering the city all day, exhausted from trying to ditch the police. It was now late into the night, which made him even, more irritated, on account of he'd been running from the law way longer than a national hero should have to. And usually, he'd be cool of he was the bad guy to certain people- just not when the "badness" wasn't his fault.

"That's it!" he shouted, throwing up his hands in the middle of a dimly lit street. "This game of tag is boring. I'm outta here!"

Then, out of plumb nowhere, another Military Fighter-this one nicknamed BIG FOOT- jumped in front of Sonic, now that he was out and about. Sonic just spread out his arms and gave an aloof groan.

"Hmm! Finally decided to show up, eh? OK, bring it on!"

_"Spider Troop's Big Foot reporting to headquarters! Intruder has been located!"_

_"Copy that!"_

"Copy this-it wasn't me!" Sonic wailed, rolling into a ball just as a projectile whizzed over his head. "I'm the one and only _me_, you know!"

He crashed harshly into Big Foot, knocking it out of its flying orbit around the fighting area. Sonic then shot down at it in a spin dash, damaging it even more that with a painfully placed kick. He jumped onto a box as it started to patrol around, shooting bullets. Sonic just scoffed and prepared to jump again.

"Ha, like those are really going to be able to hit me!"

He easily maneuvered out of the way as Big Foot blasted his box to pieces.

"If I'm correct, it looks like this thing can only take three more hits!" Sonic exclaimed as he skidded away from another round of bullets. He smirked, and then jumped up to attack, only to be hit by a few of said bullets.

"Ouch!"

Grunting at himself for allowing such a weak robot to strike him, Sonic took refuge from behind a crate until Big Foot was on his feet again. He moved quickly in ball form, springing up and striking again.

_"This is Spider Troop's Big Foot! Big Foot to Headquarters, over! We've engaged the enemy and request backup!"_

"Pbth, _backup_!" Sonic scoffed, bringing an extended fist into the bottom of Big Foot. As Sonic thought it would break down, it still managed to fly somewhat smoothly through the air and attempt to blast him into pieces. "Hm, guess I was wrong. Looks like its take four helpings of Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Big Foot did one last round of blasting before landing once again. Sonic ran straight up to it, grinning.

"You've just put yourself to your doom, buddy!"

After receiving a full-force spin dash, the Big Foot started to collapse upon itself.

_"What! For just one hedgehog?"_

"That's right guy! Take care!" As Sonic cockily started to walk away, something odd struck him. He frowned, and then turned back to the remains of the Big Foot. "What?"

It was almost like looking in a mirror.

Shadow, who was not at all impressed by the mistaken hedgehog or his skills, just pulled out the shiny green Chaos Emerald and held it above him.

"It all starts with this…a jewel containing the ultimate power…"

"That a…Chaos Emerald!" exclaimed Sonic, recognizing that to be the one from the museum. "Now I know what's going on!"

Shadow glanced down, giving Sonic the slightest bit of acknowledgement. Sonic explained everything as he strolled up to his almost-but-definitely-not-exact-look alike.

"The military has mistaken me for the likes of you! So…where do you think you're going with that emerald?"

Shadow just stared intently at Sonic. Hmph, he already knew about the mix-up. More importantly he didn't care. And yet…why did this hedgehog look nearly, yet still not exactly, like him?

Sonic growled and ran straight for Shadow. "Say something you fake hedgehog!"

_"With pleasure…"_

"Chaos…" Shadow tossed the emerald into the air, then caught it stylishly and held it outwards. _"…Control!"_

Power surged into the single emerald, and in a bright green flash, Shadow disappeared. As Sonic still ran for his original destination, time seemed to slow down as Shadow reappeared next to the blue blur and ran in the opposite direction.

Doing a double take, Sonic braked to a stop and looked over his shoulder, eyes wide. "Wow! He's FAST." And almost as he admitted that he was pretty speed-worthy, he noted Shadow was now standing on the roof of a building. "Hey...it's not his speed. He must be using the Chaos Emerald to warp!"

"My name is Shadow. I am the world's ultimate life form," Shadow explained, tossing the Chaos Emerald up and down in his hand. "There is no time for games. Farewell!"

Sonic shielded his eyes from the blinding light that emitted out of the Chaos Emerald, signaling that Shadow had teleported again, but who knew where?

"Shadow…what is he?"

Before even Sonic could move, the sound of police sirens surrounded him, along with police cars themselves. And two helicopters with spotlights. Sonic groaned- backup.

"Don't move! Stay where you are! Keep your hands up!"

"…not again!"

And moments later, Sonic the Hedgehog was arrested (again).

And he was taken to jail.

* * *

**...Now let's all make fun of how color-blind people are in this game! :P (in other words, I actually enjoy this chapter. Rouge's part was particularly fun to write! :D)**


	4. Criminal Activity

Live and Learn

Chapter 3: Criminal Activity

**20:22**  
**Desert Area-**

The next day (or, night rather) after Sonic and Shadow's meeting (not that Eggman knew about it), the doctor was still trying to make his way back to his base. It was on the far, far, end of the desert, and besides that, he was busy trying to fix his machine after the unintended damage Knuckles did to it… but his spirits were higher now as he stomped through the sands to his base, at last.

"Those idiots will never find my hidden base inside this pyramid…" he said snidely. "Let's take care of business here first, and then get inside…"

Eggman had planted dozens of traps just outside his pyramid's entrance, just for extra security. The downfall of this was he had to avoid the traps also, as he was now currently navigating a turn table with several lasers attached to it. Beyond that were moving platforms, and beyond THAT were several stun lasers…

"Darn me and my amazing technological ability!" Eggman cursed himself as he narrowly missed his arm being zapped. He then knocked down a tower of sorts, creating a secret path to get in. he climbed down into the pyramid, still a bit sore about nearly hitting himself with his own creation. Even more creations, this time in the form of robots, were also blasting away at him. Eggman blasted right back, with more fire power.

"Such fine machinery gone to waste…" he sighed, now making his way upwards while blowing another bot's head clean off. "Next time I'll only activate the robots if I'm actually in the building, but I need to meet Shadow on the ARK tomorrow…"

He continued to disarm his traps and knocked down the paths, jumping around in his walker like a frog all the while. More platforms and turntable were also placed about, made so that if someone tried to cross they'd be sure to fall…which was a slight problem for Eggman, since his jumping ability- though like a frog- was also had the skill equivalent to a steel egg. He made strategic moves as to when to jump, and when to advance to the next platform. Luck was on his side, as he made it across safely. He then went to a special hidden ramp that propelled his over an alley of fire plumes, preventing himself from being burned.

"Excellent. My knowledge of the route seems to be to my benefit…of course."

Sometimes even geniuses made obvious statements.

Continuing on, Eggman turned into a hall with grinning statues of him- personal décor! - And robots lines about. Eggman dispatched them quickly, still mad about getting rid of his own henchmen. And yet, he almost didn't care, since the entrance to his main HQ was just ahead! Smirking evilly, he jumped out of his walker and entered.

"That wasn't so difficult…" he stated, ready to get to the bottom of whatever was going on at last. Eggman stared musing as soon as he was in the room.

"With the Chaos Emerald…in the Space Colony ARK…I've got to find out just what's going on up there."

He walked up to his holographic computer, which was stationed in the center of the room, and turned it on. Instantly, it tuned into an emergency bulletin being announced by a girl with a hint of an accent.

"We interrupt this broadcast for an important news flash. There has been a break in at the Federal Reserve Bank. Mysteriously, the only thing stolen was the Chaos Emerald."

Eggman flew forward and threw his hands on the desk. "The Chaos Emerald!"

"According to eye witnesses at the scene, the suspect was identified as the world renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. The suspect was seen fleeing the scene destroying the reserve's guard robots in his path. Stay tuned for more details."

Eggman looked thoughtful. "Sounds more like the work of Shadow…"

**22:18**  
**In the Pyramid-**

Two hours after Eggman witnessed the broadcast, Rouge has entered the scene- at last.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"This is Rouge. I've located Eggman's base, and will proceed to enter it now."

She turned the communicator of sorts off, and then sighed to herself.

"Hah…I hate to say it, but I guess I'm going to have to find the key first…"

Great, more unnecessary work for her to do. Rouge started heading upwards. Beetle robots were scattered among the current hall she was running down. She simply tried to ignore them, only to get blasted mercilessly at.

"Ouch! What the?"

Avoiding any more hits, she slipped into the shadows using her stealthy thief-like skills, and like magic the bots couldn't target her anymore. Rouge smirked.

"Interesting…"

Staying as hidden as possible, Rouge entered the next part of the "hall", where she could tell one of three keys that she needed rested. The surrounding area was a combination of ancient Egyptian architecture and technology. And there were several places to hide a key. Rouge poked around, finding an area blocked off by metal bars. Her tracking hunch was going mad.

"Hmmm…"

Rouge directly turned from the bars and found a rocket- the bars were in its line of fire! Quickly flying over, Rouge turned it on. It roared to life and almost instantly brought the seal on the area down with a shattering sound of metal bending. Pleased with her quick thinking, Rouge entered the new area and located her first key under a crate.

"Excellent work, by yours truly…"

Leaving that part, Rouge climbed up to a higher up area and instantly rolled away from being hit by what was probably an E-Series robot. Rouge bared her fangs then took if down with a devastating Tornado Kick- another key fell out!

Rouge pondered to herself as she twirled the key between her fingers. "What are the odds of that…"

She shrugged off the simplicity and continued down the hall. It slowly morphed from the ancient Egyptian style to Eggman's own little twisted technology version of the pyramid.

"He sure put his own touches on this place…" Rouge remarked, ducking under a missile that launched out of the metallic wall. "I've got to find that last key as soon as possible!"

She bashed down a wall of boxes that led to a secret narrow hallway, where a robot was looking for a target to blast to pieces. Rouge gasped and clung to the wall, quickly shimming behind it without causing attention. Once she was by she flew away quickly, reaching the next sector of the pyramid. It had a red flame on the wall, and two E-Series robot patrolling the grounds. Rouge was quick in dispatching them, and though her instinct was going mad, neither contraption had dropped the key.

"It's still gotta be close…"

She climbed the wall, searching near the flame and nearly burning herself. She knew she was very close, but she couldn't see the key! Rouge dropped to the ground and poked and pressed against every brick in the walls, but there was no hidden switch or anything. She sighed and leaned against a pillar- where her killer instinct was, well, killing her.

"I get the feeling it's right under my nose!" she exclaimed in a fury. Rouge then heard a clank and looked up. The last key was perched toward the top of the pillar. "…or maybe it's just above my head…"

Rouge flew up and obtained the last key, glad that the small search was over. The last key may have been hidden somewhat cleverly, but the task in general was no match for Rouge the Bat. She smirked to herself as she glided down the halls, returning to the heavily locked door that house the doc's main HQ. As she placed the keys in, she had to chuckle to herself.

"How was that? Perfect? Like me? Of course!"

Rouge finally was able to access Dr. Robotnik's true work of operations: the small cozy room with screens floating about and access to satellite TV. Finding it odd Eggman wasn't around, Rouge began to snoop a little. With a closer look, the room wasn't just a high-tech computer with satellite TV, but also-

"It's a space transporter! The destination has been set to…ARK?" Rouge bit her lip while thinking. The name rang a bell. "Wasn't that space colony shut down over 50 years ago? What's he doing up there anyway…Doesn't matter! It's my mission to find out what he's up to!"

And thus, she hit the button on the transporter, and she too, was taken up to the Space Colony ARK.

**22:41**  
**Inside Space Colony ARK-**

"So this is the Space Colony Ark…I have to locate the central control room that Shadow mentioned before he left…" Dr. Robotnik mumbled to himself as he arrived in the shut down space colony. What connection did Shadow have to this place anyway? It was empty, with the exception of the occasional robot creation that came out to play. Eggman played back by blasting them to pieces. Basically, the way to the core of the ARK was via lots of elevators, and several high-security doors. It was quite tedious, and to Eggman, frankly boring.

"None of these bots are even worth the time…"

He hoped that whatever Shadow made him come up here for was some incredible reason, because so far this truly wasn't worth the trip. All this upping and downing and opening and closing and whooshing and swooshing were boggling his very mind! Thank goodness he had a walker to use, instead of walking the entire way.

"Though Shadow has Chaos Control. I bet he just teleported instantly there…"

The mere thought of Shadow being there, waiting impatiently while Eggman had to fight his way through made the doctor boil inside. He cooled down with a different though: this creature, the world's Ultimate Life form, was far superior to Sonic. He was just as fast, if not faster, he could teleport, he had fancy fighting skills, and best of all, he was evil!

Well, Eggman didn't know if he was evil, but that scowl plastered on his face definitely wasn't the sign of a hyperactive hedgehog handing out thumbs up like lollypops and hitting the escape button on every capsule that just so happened to contained trapped animals inside and-

"Hrr…I can tell Shadow isn't like that," Eggman growled quietly. "He's a much more…composed sort of hedgehog. And perhaps, if he isn't evil, I can tell his intentions certainly are. I can persuade him to the 'dark' side…the right side…and besides, he did say he owes me one wish…"

His mustache was raised as he smiled, thinking all about what his one and only wish could possibly be. Well, there was two- take over the world and blast Sonic the Hedgehog off the face of the planet. But he could kill two birds with one stone if Shadow did Sonic in for him…leaving the pathway for world domination without a detour!

"Yes…yes!" he boomed, just now entering the central control room. "Ah, if I had tried a little harder to defeat Sonic, we wouldn't be here now…but that's not necessarily a bad thing now that I have Shadow, ho ho ho ho…"

The central control room was one long bridge leading to a massive supercomputer…which doubled as something else. Shadow was currently standing in front of it, gazing at the main screen and recalling all his memories of the place. He may have been lost in thought, but it was impossible to miss the metal thunking that Eggman's machine made.

"I've been waiting for you, Doctor…" Shadow said, glanced over his shoulder. Eggman made a slight face- he knew it. Eggman jumped out of the machine and waited for Shadow to explain everything. Shadow didn't miss a beat and began instantly. "Now, I will show you the glorious achievement of what the world's leading scientist, Professor Gerald, has created…"

He held his hand dramatically toward the supercomputer as it roared to life.

"The ARK was the first space colony created by mankind. Not many people know that that ARK contained a top secret research facility, where weapons of mass destruction were created…"

Eggman took note that at "weapons of mass destruction", the 'supercomputer' began to change and expand. Eggman was taken aback at the creational genius while Shadow operated it flawlessly.

"…this is one of them, a weapon capable of destroying an entire planet. Code named: the Eclipse Cannon…"

"Destroying an entire planet? Was this my grandfather's legacy?" Eggman gasped in his thoughts.

"But…it's been deactivated for some time now…" Shadow continued as he gazed at the green Chaos Emerald, as if he was explaining it to himself rather than the scientist before him. He placed the Chaos Emerald in the center of a panel-like device, attached to the Eclipse Cannon. "To reactivate it, large amounts of energy are necessary."

The machine emitted a green wave of energy from contact with the Chaos Emerald. The pure technology and genius that went into this invention…it blew Eggman's mind! It was certainly beyond him! No wonder his grandfather was the leading scientist of the world!

"So that's why we need the Chaos Emeralds…" he trailed, mind still buzzing from the glorious Eclipse Cannon.

"Exactly! To reactivate the machine, we need the seven Chaos Emeralds. Once you have that, then you have the ultimate power of destruction to use as you please. And then…the world could be yours!"

"Sounds like a plan! I like the way you think, Shadow!"

Shadow started mischievously at Eggman as he burst into an evil laugh. The doctor though he was going to take over the world, or destroying it , and he thought Shadow was his underling, but Shadow knew it was quite the contraire- he was playing Eggman like a fiddle, not to mention that he'd get his revenge on the world anyway…

"I will get the Chaos Emeralds, use the machine to dominate the world, and build a legacy of my own!"

"Do you really think it will be that easy?" a third voice called, this one highly feminine. Eggman glanced up in surprise- he recognized that voice… Shadow just looked up in anger because some third-party intruder had been eavesdropping on highly classified information!

"I've got a great idea!" the female albino bat called, flying down and landing stylishly. "How about making a deal?"

"A…deal?" Eggman guffawed, still not believe this fool arrived out of nowhere without any explanation. Shadow just clenched his fist.

"When you grabbed that huge emerald, you said something about a reaction. A reaction that it may have with the Master Emerald." she began, recalling the incident with her, him, and that rugged-looking echidna. She lightly smiled at the memory, but pushing it aside to get to the point. "Now, if you would just let me borrow that radar, I may be able to help you! What do you think?"

"If I do…what's in it for me?"

"I have an idea where the other Chaos Emeralds may be. I may not look like it, but do you know that I am a treasure hunter that specializes in all kinds of jewels?"

She smirked, fangs poking out, as she pulled out the dark blue Chaos Emerald. She had a plan- and boy was it a good one! She didn't want to go after the Master Emerald just because it was beautiful- if she went after it, perhaps what she could put back of the pieces would lead her to the Chaos Emeralds! She had already located one this way- why not more?

"That handsome echidna may have said something useful after all…"

Eggman was still in a bit of a daze at the sight of the Emerald. He looked down, silently thinking. Something about this bat was highly untrustworthy, but the look from Shadow told him to go on with it- either because this bat would prove to be highly useful, or just because she was highly attractive. When he noticed her glanced at him, he "hmphed" and turned his back.

"…very well."

"Okay then- it's a deal! I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Rouge the Bat…but, you can call Rouge." She then glanced up at Shadow. "By the way…who's this charming friend of yours?"

"It's Shadow…" he then teleported right in front of her, revealing himself. "…Shadow the Hedgehog."

Rouge's eyes widened at the sight of him, but said nothing beyond a gasp.


	5. Partners in Crime

Live and Learn

Chapter 4: Partners in Crime

**11:13**  
**Prison Island: Coastline-**

"Having to come back isn't my idea of a vacation…" muttered Eggman, as he and his new team were hiding out in the jungles of Prison Island the next morning. He turned to Rouge and raised an eyebrow. "How can you be sure your intelligence reports are correct? Why would the Chaos Emeralds be here on the island? Are you absolutely sure?"

Rouge shrugged. "Well, believe what you wanna believe."

"Hmph. Very well. Very well. Let's discuss how we are going to do this. I will go in first and distract the military troops, allowing you to sneak into the bases without being detected. Then, Shadow will enter the armory, where he will set the timer on these dynamite packs. Once that is in place, we will blow up the whole island and get away before anyone has a chance to know what hit them!"

Eggman, after giving Shadow the device and receiving a nod in return, then turned to Rouge to give her instructions.

"Meanwhile, you'll have to sneak into the Cargo Area and grab the Chaos Emeralds. That's a challenge for such a worthy treasure hunter as yourself, isn't it, Bat Girl?"

Rouge cracked a smile and gave Eggman a salute. "Just leave it to me."

"We only have 30 minutes to pull this mission off…and we only get one try, so don't fail me!"

The group exchanged looks before taking off…

. . .

Eggman almost instantly got to work, blasting down a whole squadron of robots already sent out to take him out. Oh, the joy of being victorious! With every push of a button was another robot down. It was hardly a challenge against a doctor with such moxie! They kept coming, pack by pack, all the way down the main perimeter of the island, but Eggman was ready. He knew the risks this mission had, and if something failed, he'd be blown up along with the island!

If only he knew that his arch nemesis rested in a cell at the very center of the prison…then when the island blew up, he'd be taken along with it!

Eggman swerved in-between rapid launches of lasers, not getting his by a single one! And to top it off, he could take 3 machines out at once with one laser! Talk about efficient inventions! Fighter jets started coming after the doctor, harboring massive weapons of their own. Two missiles detonated next to Eggman on both sides, missing him just barely. He growled and pounded a fist on the dashboard, sending out two motion-seeking missiles, which proved to be effective against the fighter jets.

All this detonating was causing quite the stir, as Eggman had hoped. All the guards and all their machines slowly made their way toward Eggman's rampage, his path of destruction. Eggman hands were moving as if he was playing a video game, putting all robots under rapid fire, and potential overkill. But Eggman didn't care. It was very rare that he'd even get to experience such a conquering! He had to prepare for when he took over the world, right?

When he finally reached the front of the base, it was all clear- but only for a split moment. Shadow and Rouge were by his side, ready to take action.

"OK, everyone ready? Shadow, Rouge, on with the show!" Eggman announced. Before anyone could move though, out of nowhere, appeared little Miss Amy Rose, who tackled Shadow in one of her famous "death hugs".

"Oh, Sonic! I thought I'd never see you again! I'm so glad you made it! What a relief!" she cried, smothering Shadow. When there was no response (let alone the annoyed "Amy!" she was expecting), Amy took a good look at just who she was hugging… Amy t hen turned to her left and saw Rouge stifling laughter. She then gasped and took several steps back, knowing she had made a grave mistake.

"You're not Sonic! Who ARE you?"

"I'm the one who should be asking that!" roared Eggman.

Amy's eyes widened even more than they already were. "Dr. Eggman! WaaaAAAAAHHH!"

She instantly ran off, making Eggman growl with rage. Rouge was still trying ever so hard to not laugh while Shadow looked dull and lifeless and usual- at least, when he wasn't ready to blast someone's head off.

"Aaugh, Amy, your timing is impeccable!" Eggman turned to Shadow and Rouge. "Leave this to me to! You two carry out your assignment!"

The duo silently agreed and entered the building while Eggman followed Amy to the edge, who was trying to think of a way to get off the island…despite not even recalling how she even got there.

"Give up, Amy!"

**11:25**  
**Prison Island: Nearby Airspace-**

It didn't take long for word of the arrest of Sonic the Hedgehog to get out, and certain people were bound to find out- especially for two-tailed foxes who were terrified of what happened to their older brothers. Sure, they were apart for long periods of time, but never without knowing beforehand!

"There's no mistake about it. This must be the island. It's a secret military base that is reinforced and super strong! It's called Prison Island! I heard the news about it on satellite TV!"

The perfect place to keep Sonic, who was such a dastardly criminal. And why the heck was Tails talking to himself…

"I still can't believe that Sonic would destroy the military buildings or rob the bank! Wait for me, okay Sonic? I'm on my way!"

As he flew over the front part of the island, he spotted something awfully out of place.

"Hey look! It's Amy! And Eggman too! What's Amy doing here?…doesn't matter. I have to help Amy because she's in danger! Tornado…Transformation!"

With the push of the button, the Tornado 2, was named after Sonic's original red biplane, began to transform into a walker similar to Eggman's (one of the new features- Tails almost wanted to call it the Tornado 3 due to such a big rendition). He landed on the island, in-between Amy and Eggman, and gave Eggman a stare down. Amy jumped up and laughed.

"Boy am I glad to see you!"

Tails just gave a modest wave of his hand. "Stand back, Amy!"

Eggman smacked his head- first Amy hugging his secret weapon, now Tails getting ready to blow him to smithereens. And he was very capable too, especially with a brain that actually compared to his. Brilliant. Eggman started the apparent battle off by hoping to blast Tails senseless with a barrage of missiles.

"You're just a kid! You can't defeat me! "

"I've done it before! " Tails snapped back, quickly flying up and out of the way, the missiles being rendered useless as they smashed into the ground.

"You can do it, Tails!" cheered Amy. Tails ignored Amt for the moment, slapping down levers, twisting things, and hitting buttons, all to do damage to Eggman.

"Eggman, you won't get away with this!"

"Oh, but I will! And I certainly won't do it alone!" he cackled. Tails cocked his head. What did THAT mean? His brief moment of thought was a disadvantage as Eggman managed to get a decent laser shot it, doing damage to the front of Tails' machine.

"Grr…Volcano Cannon Fire!"

Eggman cried out as he was blinded by the explosions doing massive destruction to his machine. Tails gave a little chuckle, not showing Eggman any mercy. Eggman fumbled to get back in control, seething.

"Grr…now you've made me mad…"

Tails gave an "I don't care look" and hit Eggman with a photon blast.

"UGH! That's it! I'm going to destroy you!"

Tails knew he was in trouble and attempted to put his shields up, while at the same time firing at Eggman who was mumbling something about letting his guard down.

"How's that!"

Tails instantly cast even more weapons upon the doctor, but at the same time suffer from some himself. His controls were now going slightly haywire, and as Eggman charged up his photon cannon, Tails knew there was no way he was going to win.

"Shoot…and I was so close too…" he sighed, but still not daring to give up as he worked fast to fix up everything. He had his cannon up and ready to go for one last shot, but he wasn't sure if it would hit the target or not. Eggman flashed his teeth as he grinned with a victory-worthy smile.

"Better luck next time, Fox Boy…"

Tails gasped, but still retained a confident look, finger still resting on the button. Just as Eggman was about to deal the final blow, a rare stroke of…respect washed over him. Even as this kid was about to be destroyed, he wouldn't go down without a fight. It reminded the doctor of, well, him. Either that, or he realized he needed to continue his plan. Tails had braced himself, but he was hit with something far more shocking than a photon blast.

"This time, I'll let you go….but the next time we meet…you won't be so lucky!"

As he stormed away, Tails glared at him, hoping an intent stare would blow his machine to pieces. Now that the commotion was over, Amy excitedly ran up to Tails.

"Wow, Tails, you did it!" she exclaimed. "But, what are you doing on this island?"

Tails was appalled. "I'm the one who should be asking that question! Don't you know it's dangerous here?"

"I know, but I'm here to save my hero, Sonic!"

Tails made a face and groaned, shaking his head. "Again-"

"Hurry! I know Eggman's up to no good again!"

"OK, you stay here, and I'll be right back!"

Tails took off in his walker right after that, leaving Amy watching curiously.

"Don't leave without me! I wanna help Sonic too!"

* * *

**I hate short chapters. **


	6. Sonic Needs a Gimme Break

Live and Learn

Chapter 5: Sonic Needs a Gimme Break

**11:28**  
**Prison Island: Security Hall-**

_"I'm in position Doctor. Tell me when."_

_"There's been an unexpected delay on my end. There's no more time to waste! Set the timer for 15 minutes! Let's go, Rouge!"_

Rouge, who was standing around listening to the conversation, just smiled to herself.

"5 minutes should be plenty! Here I go!"

That was, it gave her 10 minutes to get the heck off the island!

_"Rouge! Get the Chaos Emeralds before the military can find you!"_

"Roger that, Eggy!"

"_Don't call me that!"_

Rouge giggled, and then began the hunt for the 3 Chaos Emeralds stored away on the island. With 5 minutes, the clock was already ticking down! She didn't bother stressing herself by thinking about what could happen if she didn't get out of there in time, because that would only delay her progress, and it was impossible that she would fail anyway.

"Let's get started! I don't have much time to waste!"

She started running through the area, which was actually quite big for a cargo hold on a tight security prison. Rouge glanced up, seeing as she was getting nowhere from the ground.

"I've got to get to the upstairs room from here…"

Rouge stepped on a box, and then took off into the air. A conveniently placed spring helped her reach even higher heights, and almost instantly she could feel a Chaos Emerald close by. She contracted her wings and landed on a ledge, followed by grabbing a red lever. It took her upwards to the upper half of the cargo hold. An Emerald was definitely here! Rouge looked around for a place when an Emerald would probably be stored- her eyes locked onto a suspicious looking crate.

"Not anymore!" Rouge called, swinging her leg into the crate and breaking it instantly. The Red Chaos Emerald popped out and she claimed it for herself. "Only two more!"

She giggled while jumping over the edge, ending up above a series of air conditioning vents. It was almost kind of fun, being able to float on air currents thanks to her wings. Rouge, however, knew there wasn't time for enjoyment. She checked her watched- four minutes left.

"Still plenty of time!"

Rouge glided over to the other side of the gusty gap (also taking note that there was money floating around in there) and sensed the second Emerald. She smirked- she wouldn't be surprised if she beat Eggman and Shadow of her at this rate!

"_Hurry up Rouge! The island is set to blow up!"_Eggman shouted at her through the walkie talkie. Rouge rolled her eyes and ignored him- he needed to stop worrying so much! However, as she hunted down the second Emerald, she realized she lost its trail! Panicking only a little, Rouge climbed up the walls and peeked in any cell or opening she could find, hoping an Emerald was there. No luck.

_"What are you doing? Get going!"_

Rouge cringed- she was trying! Putting on the pressure wasn't going to help any! Nervously she checked the time- three minutes!

_"Bring me the Chaos Emeralds, now!"_

"I'm trying to find them all!" Rouge snapped back, jumping over and avoiding lasers blocking a certain hall. "Your plan won't work without all of them, right? And if I don't get them, the bomb will blow them up! Why didn't you think about that?"

_"Because a treasure hunter such as yourself specializes in all sorts of jewels and you can handle such a challenge, remember?"_

Rouge glowered as she hit the button to end the current conversation. "Shut up."

She instantly tore down the hall, and she would have kept going if it wasn't for her senses to almost instantly go haywire then disappear. Rouge braked to a stop and backtracked- there was a Chaos Emerald somewhere between two large boxes! Between the two large boxes were three small crates all in a row. And the middle crate was metal, while the other two were wooden.

"Talk about not making it obvious!"

Her mighty leg smashed into the metal crate, until she realized that this was a_ very _stupid idea.

_"What in the world are you doing? You took longer than you were supposed to!"_

"What is he talking-?"

One minute and 30 seconds left.

Eye bugging out, she realized she wasn't as close to the emerald as she thought and continued running down the hall, a slight limp in her step thanks to her stupid move. Going down just a few steps more was a blue crate in-between two large boxes, blocked off by a laser, and with the purple Chaos Emerald perched on top.

"I don't have much time to find the last one…" she trailed, rolling under the laser and nabbing the emerald.

_"Rouge! It's going to explode! Hurry up! GET GOING."_

One minute. Whatever happened to two? Didn't matter- Rouge had to get the last emerald and get out. She apparently needed full five minutes to get the emeralds, and the remaining 10 to escape the prison! Time was ticking down fast- luckily Rouge sensed the final Emerald and flew upwards toward "Blue Cell Block C". There were three cell blocks, all with the doors sealed tight.

"Oh no!"

_"Rouge, this is no good!"_

"WAIT!"

Rouge crawled through a tiny hole in one of the door, just about hearing time count down in her head. With a few smooth moves, she crawled out and watched the door practically unlock itself. Once the door was opened, Rouge snatched the Cyan Emerald and bolted.

"I've got it! I've got it! Not too bad, I guess…"

. . .

"Okay…" Tails trailed, entering (or blasting) into the prison. Ever since the last assault on Prison Island, the security was certainly buffed up. He had hardly had the chance to enter when a ton of robots swarmed him. "I need to get to the core of the prison where they're keeping Sonic!"

As he blasted away, unknowingly to him, Amy was following close behind, staying as close to Tails as she could get.

"I hope I don't get shot at!"

She saw Tails stomping away from her and quickly ran to catch up with him. Amy even dared to latch into the leg of the walker. It didn't take very much to overpower the security- the way to Sonic was locked up by barred doors, and behind each were military droids. All Tails had to do was kill them all, and bam- door would open. Not too hard at all.

That hard part was Amy clinging tightly, trying not to be noticed by Tails, and avoiding any haywire shots that were made.

Tails stepped onto an elevator, also simultaneously engaging in another duel with more drones. Bullets blasted by Amy's face, making her cry out. Tails instantly turned around.

"What was that? It sounded like Amy…"

Amy clamped her hand over her mouth, and then muffled another scream as she turned away from an oncoming laser.

Tails shrugged and continued onward. He navigated down halls, still unaware that he was making Amy fall backward, then come back forward and collide with the walker with every step.

_"Oomph…oomph…oomph…"_

"Sonic must be this way with all this protection…" Tails presumed, blasting another bot down. Any other thing that came Tails' way went up in smoke seconds later. Amy, between trying not to scream and the headache she was about to get from crashing into metal, also wondered where Sonic was. She highly doubted Tails was going to reach him with all the commotion he was making…

"Take that! And that! And some of this!" Tails laughed, making metal fly. "Gee, I wonder if leaving Amy behind like that was safe…and more importantly, I wonder if I'll even be able to get Sonic out!"

Amy sweat dropped. Tails was talking to himself. Did Sonic leave him by himself that much to go on runs? At least Amy had hobbies she busied herself with when she wasn't chasing Sonic…but then again, Tails was always tinkering. One day by accident he might end up building another Metal Sonic just to keep him company!

Amy snickered a little, and luckily Tails didn't hear her that time. He was occupying himself by destroying any robot that even dared to move with a well-placed laser zap.

_"I hope we're almost there…"_ Amy thought to herself.

"I hope I'm almost there…" Tails said aloud almost immediately after. Amy glanced upwards, raising an eyebrow, but said nothing. Talking to himself…she wondered if he knew he did that. Her train of thought was abruptly cut off as Tails suddenly yelled, "Yeah! I did it!"

"Are we here?"

Amy poked her head out, griping onto the walker hard since Tails was making it jump up and down excitedly. She frowned- Sonic was not here.

"That was easy!"

Amy shook her head and snuck off. She went back a room and found a hidden hall. She almost turned around and said, "Uh, Tails? It's this way…" but another robot had showed up and Tails partook in dueling it. Amy sighed and continued onward alone, bashing a bot or two with her hammer as she made her way to Sonic…and ironically, found a key card in the remains of one of the androids.

"Interesting…I think I'll keep this with me."

And without warning, she suddenly fell through the floor.

. . .

Sonic, who was stuck in an old, rusty prison cell, was pacing around, thinking over everything. Who was Shadow? He could use Chaos Control? Why were people so colorblind? Why was it him that had to be locked up like this? How long would he be here? He wasn't scared, he was just worried…

What would Shadow do while he was gone? What if Shadow was up to something evil- beyond stealing things and framing innocent heroes- and then they'd all see that they were wrong for arresting Sonic. They'd see that the true menace was still about, and they had locked up the only one that could possibly prevent the threat. Would they even apologize? Psh, what if he was forgotten about? The memories of his heroic deeds would fade away along with him, perhaps even becoming a legend. Then the stories would end with: "And then Sonic somehow transformed into a black hedgehog with red highlights, went evil, obtained some power not even heard about until now, and is now rotting away in the tightest security prison known to man".

Sonic frowned. He shouldn't be thinking up all these 'what ifs', but being stuck in a jail was definitely the best place to think, but that also meant your mind was free to wander. So as much as he didn't want to think up all of these possibilities, he didn't stop himself. What would happen to his friends? Amy would probably go insane from not being able to be around Sonic, Tails might end up isolating himself, Knuckles…well, Knuckles probably didn't even know he was in jail now, being cooped up on that island of his.

"I never realized how small a group of close friends I have…" Sonic trailed.

_Hold on to what if…_

Sonic started pacing again. He needed to think about good what ifs. What if Tails came and saved him? What if they captured Shadow and swapped him out? What if…ah, positive what ifs were harder to think of than negative ones.

"At least I managed to get one last run and battle before I was thrown in here…" he sighed, trying to be positive. He figured no one would try to break him out. He was quite the "criminal" and bail might've been denied, and security was so tight Sonic himself didn't even try to break out.

So when Amy arrived via falling from the ceiling, Sonic was completely taken aback.

"I bet you're surprised to see me, huh?" Amy exclaimed excitedly, though silently.

"_Huh?_ Amy-"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" She then smiled and walked over. "Have no fear, Amy Rose is here!"

Sonic sweat dropped and backed away from the bar, turned his back to her but glancing over his shoulder. "How'd you get here?"

"Well, if you gotta know, I caught a ride with Tails." She waved a military pass in her hands and started pacing around herself. "Are you sure you don't need my help? It looks like you could use it…"

"The reason I'm in here is because of that fake hedgehog!" Sonic was stretching and running in place while explaining, which prevented him from lashing out with what he really thought of that fake hedgehog. Amy looked thoughtful.

"You mean that black hedgehog?"

Sonic nearly doubled over as he zipped back to the bars and got as close to Amy as he could get. "Did you see it? Where is it now?"

Did he purposefully forget that 'the fake hedgehog' happened to be male?

"If I tell ya, will you marry me?"

Which was worse torture? Being stuck in a cell while your mind warps some unreal reality based on a series of what ifs, or being married to Amy? Hmm…

"No way."

"I thought I had you this time!"

Sonic closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. This was impossible…

Nevertheless, Amy swiped the card in the security lock, and the door to Sonic's cell whooshed open.

"That black hedgehog came with Dr. Eggman," Amy stated as Sonic hopped out into freedom.

"So, Eggman's behind this, huh?"

Amy ignored Sonic as she poked her head into the cell. Black writing coated the walls like a wall paper. "What's all that writing on the wall anyway? Did you write that?"

"That was there before."

"What-"

Sonic was gone after that. Amy stomped her foot and rapidly bashed the floor with her hammer.

"Wait for me, Sonic! He is _such_ a brat sometimes!"

* * *

**Hooray for improvising! :D **

**Topic of the Chapter: Lessee, there was no case of colorblindness this chapter...the point of how the heck Amy ended up on the island was discussed...let's poke fun at how Tails went on the search for Sonic, and did that entire level dedicated to him...but somehow AMY randomly found him? How does THAT work? **


	7. Won't Stop, Just Go! Can't Stop, So What

Live and Learn

Chapter 6: Won't Stop, Just Go! Can't Stop, So What?

Rouge was still running for her life, until she was forced to break to a stop because of another military robot, this one named Flying Dog.

"I can't believe I've come this far, just to fail!"

"Flying Dog to headquarters. Intruder found entering Security Hold. Preparing to attack."

"Copy that."

Rouge blinked._ She_ was the intruder? Hah, if anyone was an intruder it'd be Eggman! Though, at the same time, how come Shadow's job was so easy?

"I don't have time to think about that! I need to get out of here, and if I need to beat this thing into scrap metal, then so be it!"

Flying Dog…flew. It hovered over Rouge's head, and following the dog part of its name, never lost her trail. It blasted down bullets and missiles and it was all Rouge could do to avoid them all. There had to be some way to get over it…

"A-ha!"

Rouge ran over to a wall made of metal bars, quickly climbing up to a decent height then springing off. Now _she _was flying over Flying Dog. Smirking, the albino bat spun downwards, leg out stretched, and "drilled" into the top of the military droid. Successfully putting a dent in it, Rouge landed back on the ground and started running from heat-seeking missiles. She managed to lose those by diving behind a set of crates. This left her vulnerable on the ground, however, and Flying Dog took this chance to rain bullets down on Rouge.

"Wha-"

She rolled out of the way at the last second, all the while scrambling to get back up. When she did, Rouge ran straight for the metal bars, ran up them a short ways, then did a back flip and kicked Flying Dog's front with the tip of her foot. Rouge then grabbed onto it before she fell back onto the ground and climbed on up.

"You will not be the reason I get blown up today!"

Rouge started kicking rapidly at Flying Dog's turrets, hoping to damage them a decent amount. Flying Dog flew around mercilessly, until Rouge was flung off and crashed onto the floor. She groaned, struggling to pick her head up and see what was going on.

"Ow…what is it-?"

Flying Dog was charging up a beam. Rouge glanced down and saw a red target light on her stomach. She shimmied away, just missing being blasted into nothing.

"Which wouldn't matter, because I'll be blown up in less than 5 minutes anyway…" she mumbled.

"This is Flying Dog to headquarters! I've taken heavy damage! Close the security hold!"

"NO!" Rouge roared, now flying up and plowing her foot into the machine. "Don't close it!"

Angrily, she violently beat up on the machine until it started smoking and its internal parts exploded. Rouge, now fearing for her life since it was possible she might end up stuck on the island, backed away from what she had done and hurried off.

"It's just not possible! The Flying Dog can't be destroyed! Nothing is stronger!"

"Hmph, I'm pretty strong, all right…" Rouge grunted as left the scene, looking for last second means of escape. "…and also pretty screwed…"

. . .

Shadow had no problems getting in and out and doing his job- unlike Rouge and Eggman, he didn't have anyone standing in his way or trouble getting what he needed to do finished. He was walking through the forest around the island, walkie talkie in hand, getting ready to make his escape. The walkie talkie suddenly crackled to life, and Shadow simply held it up and listened to the oncoming message.

"This is Rouge. I've got a small problem…" Shadow raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. "I can't believe that I'm trapped inside this locked safe with the Chaos Emeralds! I guess I won't be able to call myself a Treasure Hunter anymore…"

Shadow stopped.

Visions passed through his mind…the timer getting ready to go off at any second, Rouge preparing to die…His clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes in determination, mouthing the word, "Maria…" Her face also flashed, the memory of her sweet, kind nature…oh, how Shadow wanted to avenge her and fulfill her wishes…

Unable to describe just what he was feeling, Shadow stomped at the ground, growled, "Aw Shoot!_ Troublemaker…",_ and he ventured off to rescue Rouge.

"I've got ten minutes to get there…" he mused. "This will be cutting it close…"

. . .

"…Gah!"

Not only was Sonic running away from Amy, he was also making an escape, despite having no way off the island…unless the Tornado was around, he could always fly that away, but then he'd end up leaving Tails and Amy, so that wouldn't work either. He frowned. There just wasn't going to be anything good coming out of this situation, was there?

But on the other hand, man was it good to _finally_ be free! Being cooped up in that cell gave him no room whatsoever to run in. Not being able to be one with the wind and break the sound barrier or run was probably the worst part of being locked up.

Now, however, the wind was rushing through his quills as his feet rapidly crossed the metal harbor. Sonic ran over a ramp, briefly flying in the air, with also matched his own mood. When he landed again, the harbor's main path instantly twisted into a loop, with Sonic throwing up his hands and crying, "Yeah! All right!"

He did a flip into the air, then landed on a railing and started to grind on it. Now this was freedom- the only difference between normal freedom and Sonic's freedom was that Sonic could take his freedom to the max. His worried frown evolved into an excited grin, jumping off the rail and launching himself back into the air again. Perhaps escaping wouldn't be so hard after all…

. . .

Shadow cut through the jungle like a streak of black lightning. He skated down a large fallen tree as his mind was lost in thought. First, he knew there was no way he _wouldn't _be able to reach Rouge before the island was set to blow up. He was fast enough- the only "obstacle" was locating her and making sure nothing would stand in his way. Second, why was he going after Rouge anyway?

"Hmph, obviously for the Chaos Emeralds she couldn't handle getting out…" he grimaced, bounding off a spring, grabbing a vine, and circling a rather massive tree. He let go at the perfect time and was flung to the next section of the forest.

"Troublemaker…should've known!"

If Shadow really was going back just for the Chaos Emeralds he couldn't risk losing, as he had convinced himself, then why did Maria appear in his thoughts, along with a picture of Rouge sitting in the equivalent to a metal grave? He hung his head low- Shadow was utterly uncertain at this point. Whatever the reason may be, and whatever reasons this reminded him of Maria, Shadow was going back for Rouge.

Eyes narrowed once again, he rolled himself into a ball, rolled over a ramp, and rushed along the tree-like path.

. . .

Sonic ping-ponged along a series of springs, enjoying himself quite thoroughly. He was just surprised for such a "tight security prison" that guards and soldiers hadn't swarmed the harbor trying to harpoon him or catch him in a net. Sonic pondered this as he latched onto a red lever that brought him to a higher part of the harbor. Just beyond that…

"Aw, darn it."

The rest of the harbor was separated by water, which Sonic already didn't like. His gaze then turned to a set of rings, and he instantly knew what to do.

"I love these shoes."

Sonic clicked a little button on the underside of his heel and broke out into a broad grin. Afterwards, he curled up into a ball and started "charging" light- hence why this move was named the "Light Speed Dash".

"Ready? GO!"

Sonic released his focus, shooting himself forward and using the rings to get to the other side of the harbor. This section of the harbor was apparently the runway, because not only did it look like a runway, jet fighter planes were flying overhead trying to blow Sonic into submission. Sonic blasted over a boost pad and glanced up.

"I guess the farewell party has arrived…"

He was replied with a bomb nearly hitting his head, followed by being blown away by the following explosion.

. . .

Shadow meanwhile, had been bounded back and forth like a ping-pong ball, nearly landed into a bed of spikes, and zip lined over a small pond. Quite the interesting trek- he didn't have any of these issues getting in the forest- now they were suddenly there when he was trying to get back out?

"And when did these robots arrive?"

Shadow sliced through one blocking his path, despite not even doing anything to Shadow, and skated on. Unlike Sonic, Shadow didn't appreciate and love his 'speed'- he just knew that he had it and used it to his advantage. In this case, to get to Rouge and the Emeralds faster (and unknown to him, Sonic was enjoying himself and freedom in metal harbor).

"Whatever…"

Shadow pressed onward, checking his watch just for the heck of it. 8 and a half minutes left. Psh, that's be enough time for him to grab a burger and then save Rouge! But, considering the circumstances, there was no room for mistakes- or assumptions. He could very well injure himself or trip or get caught in a trap or something, which would hinder his progress.

"…what? Why in the world am I thinking about…just, never mind, because now I'm talking to myself. The faster I get the Chaos Emeralds…"

He trailed off. Saying anymore would bring Maria back up into his mind, and then probably Rouge… Shadow ran a loop, then over a boost pad, shaking his head violently to clear his thoughts. The lush green of the jungle flew by in a blur, and if Shadow wasn't in a rush, he would've considered it actually looked quite nice- better than in comparison to certain parts of city life.

"What have humans done?"

. . .

Loop, lever, and leap. If "run" started with 'l', Sonic would add that to the list too. For a daring escape on an inescapable island, Sonic was sure having a ball. He even took a look at the clear blue sunny sky as he looped, and that usually meant a good sign and would've gotten him to at least smile, but there was still something…wrong.

"Eggman. Shadow. Badness."

He couldn't fully enjoy himself if he knew there was something shifty was going on behind the scenes- especially if it had anything to do with his look-alike. How can the sun shine when darkness loomed on the horizon?

…aw heck, he didn't have a clue what was going on- who was he kidding? The most he got out of the situation was that he was framed by an impostor, he was sent to jail, and now he was trying to make a jailbreak. He bet that no one knew what Shadow and Eggman were up to- he bet that no one knew they were even on the island! Well, except Tails and Amy, but not important people.

"You know, like the military! The ones who are suppose to help and protect and bring peace and justice, but instead they allow the crime to continue right under their noses and throw a fellow do-gooder in the slammer! Not to mention one that snuffs out more evil on a regular base and thrives on justice more than _they_ do!"

Sonic shook his head- yes, he was still very annoyed at that. He let it out- no one was around to hear him. If he had shouted like that in the cell, security would definitely arrived and probably slap a muzzle on him or something. Sonic ran the road pondering this, leaping again over a gap and landing smoothly. This section took him to a mini-rocket, blasting him to a yellow-plated area.

"Missile launch in 15 seconds."

"Missile launch?"

Sonic had seen missiles strewn about the area- with big, bold, navy blue letters that spelled "GUN" on them. Was one about to be launched now? In apparently 15 seconds? Sonic was honestly curious and hurried up his pace.

"10...9...8...7..."

The countdown didn't even need to get to 0 thanks to his quickness.

"Blast off!"

"This is SWEET!" Sonic cried over the roar of the missile blasting off, hanging onto an extended bar for dear life. Thank goodness he had an amazing grip- and better yet, he only needed one hand!

. . .

Shadow turned his head up- why in the world did the military shoot a missile? Honestly? So pointless… he wasn't even going to bother contemplating that.

. . .

Sonic had let go just before the missile exploded- he loved doing that. It gave him such a thrill! But the next question was where was he going to land? Sonic turned in midair to see him plummeting toward the interior of…something. It seemed like a shaft of some sort, but he didn't spend time figuring out names for such things.

"Whuh-oh-"

He crashed into the metal lid, ending up using a piece as a board of sorts and "shred" down the side of the shaft. Just before Sonic could say, "This is cool", the board was gone, he was out of the shaft, and he was somehow running once again. Running one last loop, Sonic took a daring jump, and was out of the harbor within the same move. Free. Now he just needed to get off the island.

"Ugh…no problem…"

. . .

Sonic didn't even know where he was going, or where he'd end up, but he ran. He was actually secretly terrified that the military would catch him, and if they held up their threats, would do something very bad to him. Now he was hiding out in the jungle, hoping that the tall trees would provide a bit of space, a hide out, and time to think.

"Phew…so far so good!"

However, as he turned his head, he found Shadow was watching him from a branch.

"Hey…that's…"

"That blue hedgehog again, of all places…" Shadow grumbled. They both got caught into an eye lock and shouted, "FAKER!"

* * *

**Sonic vs Shadow and the daring escape next time! :D**


	8. Escape From Prison Island

Live and Learn

Chapter 7: Escape from Prison Island

"I found you, Faker!" Sonic snapped, pointing at Shadow for emphasis.

"Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're comparing yourself to _me_? HA! You're not even good enough to be my fake!"

Sonic was outraged. He jumped toward Shadow shouting, "I'll make you eat those words! You can't get away this time! There's only one REAL Sonic!"

"There's no time to play games! You won't even get the chance!"

Before Sonic could ask what Shadow had meant by that, the ebony hedgehog had struck the cobalt one with a punch to the face. Sonic hardly knew was what was happening- he was on the ground one moment and flying upwards toward a branch the next. He quickly grabbed it at the last second, and then swung himself up there. Shadow jumped up to strike again, but Sonic was quicker and sent him back to the ground almost instantly. Sonic charged straight at Shadow- Shadow moved out of the way and backed to the edge of where they were fighting. Sonic clenched his teeth and tried another Spin Dash, though Shadow ended up behind him and gave him a kick to the head.

"Oomph!"

"You _dare_ oppose me?" Shadow roared, walking toward Sonic who had fallen into a bush. Sonic glanced up at him, awaiting a strike, but Shadow never gave one.

"Well what are you waiting for? I'm vulnerable! Hit me!" Sonic then added, "Or are you scared?"

"I'm not scared at all."

Shadow then roared and tried to Spear Sonic, who was long gone out of the bush and perched on a tree by then. Shadow turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"You appear hesitant to fight me. Are _you _scared of something?"

Sonic's mind flashed a picture of the military locking him up forever, and then shook it away. "Heck no! I fear nothing!"

"Then show it!" Shadow growled, appearing next to Sonic and bashing him out of the tree like a piñata. Sonic cried out, then curled up into a ball to protect himself…and also charged up light. Shadow showed signs of confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Ready? GO!"

Shadow didn't know what hit him. Sonic plowed into him at mach speed, briefly knocking the wind out of Shadow and sending him into a tree. Shadow resiliently bounced back up, until Sonic tackled him with his shoulder. Shadow was sent straight back into the tree. The Ultimate Life form was not going to take that. He ran up the tree, and then flipped backward until his foot connected with an oncoming Sonic's head.

"You may be able to sneak in a few hits but you'll never defeat me! I was created for an ultimate purpose!" Shadow blared. Sonic staggered around grabbing his head.

"I don't wanna hear you."

"I don't care what you want and don't want- you're in my way right now! I don't want that but I'm at least taking care of it!"

Shadow kicked Sonic to the side, Sonic tumbling onto the ground and panting heavily."Shadow, don't make me upset…"

Shadow tightened his hands into fists and marched toward Sonic. "I don't wanna hear you, Faker…."

Sonic struggled, but he managed to at least push himself off the ground. "Shadow, don't make me upset…"

He then did a break dancing sweep kick, knocking Shadow right off his feet. Sonic followed up with another Spin Dash, socking Shadow right in the stomach. Shadow replied to this with another kick to Sonic. Sonic went flying upwards and landed on his spines.

"Ow…that hurt…" he wheezed. Sonic glanced up - Shadow was once again strolling up for an attack. But this time…there was something in his eyes…and even though Sonic didn't know what it was, he knew how to describe it.

"You are hiding something."

**_"RARGH!"_**

Sonic wasn't expecting those four words to cause Shadow to blow a gasket, resulting in him getting kneed and punched. Luckily he jumped right back up and plowed into Shadow once more, the two practically dancing with their kicks, punches, Spin Dashes, and blocks. Shadow crashed down on Sonic's head with a double fisted bash, but then Sonic Spin Dashed Shadow's head afterward. Shadow grabbed Sonic and tossed him toward a tree. Sonic landed on his feet, skidding to a stop, then charged back at Shadow with a light dash. Shadow was bowled over and it was now him looking up at Sonic, who wore a look determined to win.

"So you're not just a hedgehog..." Shadow mused to himself, however, Sonic had heard him.

"What's that supposed to mean? I want answers!"

"…not bad for an impostor." Shadow then shakily stood back up, glancing at his watch. "But I don't have time to hang out with the likes of you."

"Do you know who I am?" Sonic asked, a bit of pride in his voice.

"No. And I don't think I want to either."

His communication device started beeping and Eggman's voice rang out.

_"Shadow! What are you doing? Hurry and get back down here right away before the island blows up with you on it- blasting you sky high!"_

Sonic's eyes widened three times their size. "BLOWS UP?"

Shadow, whose jaw was dropped, said nothing upon realizing the graveness of the situation, jumped back ten feet away from Sonic, and skated away to save himself. Sonic reached out as if to stop him, then quickly realized that was pointless.

"I've got to get out of here and find Tails and Amy right away!"

He bolted in the opposite direction Shadow took. He had caught sight of the watch on his wrist- 8 minutes left. 8 minutes to get Tails and Amy to the Tornado and get out. Speaking of, where WAS Tails? He certainly wasn't there when Amy rescued him.

"I'll find out when I reach them…"

So now it was Sonic's turn to make a mad sprint through the jungle. Robots, as they were programmed to detonate all intruders, appeared, but Sonic blasted right by them and sent them flying out of his path. He swerved between trees and bushes, bolted over Boost Pads, and took off on a ramp that Sonic wasn't even really sure why that was there.

"I…jeez, the island's _really_ going to blow up?" Sonic groaned to himself as he grinded on a vine and bounced off a spring. "I knew there was something going on! And to think! That's seems like it was just a step in a much broader plan…"

He was grateful there were boost Pads everywhere- what if he didn't make it in time? Ah, screw that- he was the fastest thing alive! Well, there WAS Shadow…but Shadow hadn't beaten him in a race, so the title was still his to claim. Sonic rushed around a loop, dashed over another series of Boost Pads, and fell through a hollow tree.

As he jumped on another vine, he felt highly guilty about Tails and Amy. He had left Amy behind just because she was pressuring marriage again, and he didn't even get to see Tails…yes, they had come here on their own account, but they had saved him.

"If they didn't come at all, well, I guess I could say I was sentenced for life on Prison Island…"

If he didn't move though, none of them would be escaping!

"I'm almost there…I'll make it, I'll make it…"

He repeated that to himself as he bounded upwards via springs and vines. Sonic was a blue streak in a sea of green, the blue rushing by for the green and the green rushing by for the blue. The 'blue' also ended up getting his foot snagged on a "bungee vine" and found himself falling several stories upside down with no support but a vine.

"Whoa!"

The vine than snapped him back up, and Sonic scrambled back for solid ground before he carelessly stepped into another trap of sorts. He mentally told himself that there were approximately 6 minutes left, and knew he had to hurry. But really…he had to almost be there, right?

"I'd better be!"

Sonic grabbed onto a vine and swung around a large tree, like Shadow had done previously. He flung himself onto the next area and rocketed off once again.

"I knew it! There's the way out!"

Sure enough, just ahead, the forest ended and the main prison began again. Sonic rushed out, not caring if any military soldiers would see him.

"TAILS? AMY?"

. .

"…you're telling me you _lost_ Sonic?" Tails complained, now that he and Amy were reunited thanks to Amy unintentionally running into him (literally) while on the prowl for her hero.

"I didn't_ lose _him! I freed him, and he ran off, as usual! I don't know why- usually guys like to stick by their girlfriends…"

Tails rolled his eyes and groaned. "I told you to stay here-"

"If I did, Sonic wouldn't be free, would he?"

"He wouldn't be lost either!"

"GUYS!" Sonic shouted, running toward his friends who were bickering on the runway.

"There's Sonic!" Both of them cried in unison.

"How come you came from the forest-" Tails started to ask.

"Oh Sonic I missed you! Why did you run-" Amy began to question.

"NO! No time for talk!" Sonic exclaimed. "Bomb…island…blow up…five minutes…we need to JUICE!"

"WHAT!"

Sonic motioned toward the Tornado in walker form, then charaded out "transform now".

"Uh, okay!" Tails squeaked, leaping into the cockpit and firing up the engine. "Tornado…transform!"

"I'll explain everything later once we get off this soon-to-be death trap!" Sonic promised, jumping onto the half-transformed Tornado and helping Amy up. "But we've barely got any time to get out of here!"

"Just leave it to me, Sonic!" Tails called, hitting buttons and slapping the levers, trying to get the plane of the ground. Amy, meanwhile, hugged Sonic and giggled.

"I knew you'd come back! And now we have you to thank from saving us from the bomb! Now we can get married and grow old-"

"Not now Amy."

. . .

A minute left…and slowly counting down the seconds. Rouge knew she was going to die. Eggman certainly wasn't going to help her, and Shadow was apparently busy.

"At least I'll go out in a bang…" she sighed. "…and I'll have these beautiful jewels by my side…"

Then, with 6 seconds left, Shadow miraculously jumped in out of nowhere, running straight toward Rouge while holding a glowing Chaos Emerald and shouting, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

. . .

The island suffered a series of explosions, ranging from the Metal Harbor to that vast jungle. From the prison itself to the runway. One little bomb could do ALL that damage. It was a wonder the entire island didn't just sink. With one final, massive explosion, Prison Island was blasted into ruins. The aftershock was enough to cause huge waves in the ocean, and light the sky up in a deathly orange.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy just looked back, thinking about why such a thing had to be done.


	9. The Blasted Side of the Moon

Live and Learn

Chapter 8: The Blasted Side of the Moon

**ARK-**

_"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?"_

_"The professor said his life's work was dedicated all of those who live down there. He once told that the reason for his existence was making people happy through the power of science."_

_"Shadow…"_

_"Maria…I just don't know anything anymore. I often wonder why I was created, what my purpose is for being here. Maybe if I go down there, I…I will find the answers. Maybe…"_

_Shadow then got a sad look in his eyes._

_"Maria…"_

. . .

"Why so melancholy?" Rouge asked, walking up to Shadow. Shadow turned his head to acknowledge her, and then continued to intently stare out the window of the ARK. Rouge glanced down, and then looked up at Shadow again. "That was so unexpected, so unlike you, to come and rescue me. But your ability to use the Chaos Control certainly comes in handy!"

"Hmph…you know…I didn't come to save _you_. I came back for the Chaos Emeralds."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. But then again, that's not the whole story, is it?"

Shadow continued to face the window, but his eyes slowly turned to Rouge. She then mouthed, "You are hiding something."

Shadow would've lashed out at Rouge like he did to Sonic, but a loud and obnoxious cough that belong to an equally loud and obnoxious person made him change his mind. Eggman had returned.

"Everything is ready to go."

"Are you sure? We only have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds, you know." Rouge pointed out.

"That's more than enough for the demonstration!" Shadow declared, already marching away. "So let's get this show on the road!"

**17:30**  
**In a mountainous region-**

Knuckles was surrounded by jack-o-lanterns, an evening sky, and a creepy feeling. He blinked.

"This place sure feels haunted…there's no time to lose! I have to hurry and find the Master Emerald."

Too bad for Knuckles; he knew nothing of the fate of Prison Island, or the mess Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, and Eggman got into. Or, was that for the better? They were trying to blow each other up while Knuckles was just minding his own business, being a fighting freak, and collecting his Emerald pieces.

"Now where do I look? I have to find my lost pieces…I can't see any, but they're around somewhere. I know that it's here- I can sense it in my feet!" Knuckles jumped up and glided about. "But I just need a starting point…"

He floated above a graveyard (or what Knuckles figured was a graveyard) and suddenly felt a piece's presence. He swooped down and started looking immediately. However, as he searched, and even dug, he realized the sense wasn't as string at it could be and figure the emerald was still a ways off. Knuckles jumped down to a lower part- the sense got stronger, but still not that "nagging" level that told Knuckles he was super close. The echidna poked around, even starting to dig up a grave and come in contact with a ghost when he caught a glimpse of a piece sitting atop a dead tree. Knuckles climbed up immediately and stored the piece away with the others.

"Two more left."

Hopefully this wouldn't take very long- this place was CREEPY, especially with glowering pumpkins and ghosts of all things. Everywhere Knuckles would look- behind a grave, in a robot, under a rock- a ghost would pop out and scare him to the ground.

"Thank goodness no one is around to see me…" he muttered disdainfully.

Knuckles wound up in a scarecrow patch- well, it was actually a pumpkin patch, but there were so many scarecrows it seemed like the other way around! Knuckles' senses kicked in, and like a dog, started to sniff it out. It was until he didn't see where he was going, slipped off the edge, fell three stories, and landed on a hut of sorts that he found the second emerald piece in the rubble of the hut he smashed.

"…that's one way to find an emerald piece…"

He carried on, almost actually feeling a little lonely. Last time the emerald shattered, as he recalled earlier, Tikal was his floaty companion, occasionally nagging him but also being helpful in finding Emerald pieces that were even too elusive for Knuckles. Turns out, she was the spirit of an echidna- female echidna.

"But she's gone, and I have to fight alone now…" Knuckles then scowled. "And I have to track down that bat too! I don't know where she ended up, but she's led me here, and she's very lucky there happen to be pieces loitered about! And there's also only one more left here for me to find…"

Great, now he was thinking about _her_ again. There was something about her that said, "You want to hate me, but you'll love me anyway". It made Knuckles furious.

"Why did she have to be there?" he whined. "Why couldn't it have been…Amy or someone? Just not her."

Knuckle shook his head. It was like the Bat Girl was the only thing that took his mind off the Master Emerald! But on the other hand, she had pieces of the Master Emerald, so technically when he thought of her he was still thinking of the Master Emerald too. It made perfect sense! Feeling proud for sorting that out, Knuckles ventured for the final piece.

_"You're a chicken- don't be scared!"_

Knuckles' eyes widened at the random phase seemingly calling out to him and turned to look over his shoulder.

"M-must just be the wind…" he decided, praying it wasn't a ghost. He quickly scampered off, starting to climb a pillar a large stone pumpkin head sat on. The last emerald piece was close! Knuckles climbed on up, until he was where the nose of the pumpkin face should be. His senses were going haywire, but there was no-

"Wait, wait!"

Knuckles pounding a shovel claw into the rock, then started clawing it out until he retrieved the Emerald piece from within.

"…again, I really have to wonder about the places these land in."

**18:00**  
**Day X-**

In the middle of Station Square, somewhere downtown, a large announcement screen sat, dull, blank and black…until Eggman suddenly popped up on it.

"Citizens of Earth! Lend me your ears and listen to me very carefully!"

The 'citizens of Earth' watched the screen in terror. Eggman wasn't just on 'the big screen'- he was on screens and TVs and phones and everything! He was even on all computer screens! The entire world was probably forced to watch the doctor take up their screens!

"My name is Dr. Eggman, the world's greatest scientist, and soon to be the world's greatest ruler! Now, witness the beginning of the greatest empire of all time!"

Way up in space, just beyond the Earth's atmosphere, the Space Colony ARK revealed it's true weapon- the Eclipse Cannon, also resembling the face of a Robotnik. The little people down on Earth could only look up in awe at the sight of the massive super weapon. The Eclipse Cannon charged a bright blue beam that crossed the skies of the entire world, and blasted half the moon clean off. Eggman's laugh could be heard bellowing throughout the planet as every single screen donned a countdown- a countdown to doom's day, if you will.

23 hours, 58 minutes, 15 seconds, and counting down.

. . .

Sonic, Tails, and Amy had seen it. They had seen it all. Things definitely weren't looking good now. First, the military was after them for breaking Sonic out of jail (and would probably get pinned with the blame of blowing the island up, knowing the military), then there was Shadow still running amok causing trouble, and thirdly which was probably the most important, Eggman had a weapon that could make the world go boom.

"Look! Half the moon is gone!" Amy cried.

"Eggman! Oh, that creep never gives up!" Sonic exasperated.

"But how did he manage to harness all that energy?" Tails wondered.

"It's got to be the Chaos Emeralds…" Sonic blinked at this realization and scowled. "Yeah, that's got to be the reason they were looking for them!"

Tails gulped. "…and if Eggman has enough of them, he can use their power to make a super weapon and something tells me he has 6 of 'em…"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think he has six?"

Tails returned the raised eyebrow look. "It already takes huge amount of power to blow up half the moon, which would mean he needs at least 6. And if you've forgotten, Sonic…" Tails pulled out the final Chaos Emerald, the yellow one. "The Tornado II runs on Chaos energy, which means I've got the last one and Eggman doesn't have 'em all!"

"Tails…"

"The Chaos Emeralds are like magnets…" Tails continued to explain. "…they have the power to attract each other. I can use that to find where Eggman is!"

"The three of you- FREEZE!"

Sirens started blaring, and red flashing lights began to blind the trio.

"Oh lookie, it's the good ol' friendly neighborhood cops!" Sonic said in an acidly sarcastic falsetto voice.

"Put your hands up in the air and get on the ground!"

"Is that even possible?" Amy asked Tails in a whisper.

"Tails! I'll take care of the police while you try to find a way out of here! Find Eggman!" Sonic ordered.

Tails nodded eagerly. "Got it!"

Amy just stood around with a dazed look. "The three of you…that means me too! HEY, WAIT!"

She yelped and latched onto the walker's leg once again, right after Tails had jumped into it and almost immediately rushed off.

"Here we go again…"

Amy glanced over her shoulder to see Sonic waving his arms, catching the attention of the police, and then running off with the cops trailing him instantly. Of course, they needed backup for such a crime, and thus the 'backup' was on the path Tails and Amy were set to take.

Tails trampled through police cars, evaded fighter jets, and blasted down military robots, fearing that they would get arrested while running into a tunnel. Amy didn't care if she would get caught this time.

"Blasting at the law enforcement certainly won't get us off the hook anytime soon!"

"I know! Even after I saved Station Square from blowing up-AMY?" Tails quickly glanced down, spotting Amy waving at him from the leg. "What are you doing down there?"

"Did you really think I'd let you and Sonic leave me behind just to be arrested?" Amy scoffed. "Since there's no way I'd be able to keep with Sonic, I came with you!"

"Great…"

"Look out! We're heading into Radical Highway!"

Amy pointed forward to the red-themed road, crawling with all sorts of police. Tails gasped and began rapid-fire.

"Well if you're going to stick with me Amy then at least climb up here where I can keep an eye on you-"

"Who are you? My dad?" She grunted, but climbed up never the less. Amy situated herself in what little room Tails had behind him, but man, was the view way better up here! Now she could help Tails!

"There's a bot behind that crate! Look up in the sky! It's a plane- AH! MISSILE! Tails look out for that pedestrian-"

"AMY!"

Amy grinned sheepishly and let Tails do his thing. Tails sighed and ran his fingers through his bangs- why him? As Tails blasted away, Amy took note of the sights- if they weren't running from the law, then it would be a nice place to run by with Sonic at her side…ah, what a nice thought. She then looked up and saw Tails' face flash on a billboard, and before she questioned that was a good or bad thing, military jets swarmed around them.

"I'll take that as BAD!"

"They're dropping bombs!"

Amy grabbed onto the side of the machine for dear life as Tails veered to the right to avoid the mini-explosion, which was nothing in comparison to the one on Prison Island.

"Go faster! Go faster!"

"Do I look like Sonic? I can't go faster!"

"But you're Tails-"

"Well I can't go faster because we're in a machine designed for flight/battle, not a sports car!"

"Why aren't we flying then?"

"Do you want to be shot down in a defenseless plane by jetfighters via a death explosion and crash?"

"Can't the Tornado pull out a gun or something in flight mode?"

"…not with the modifications I made to make it double as a walker…"

"Way to go, Tails!"

"We're still alive, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry! I've never been on the run from the law before! I'm too young to be put in the slammer-"

"I'm younger than you-"

"Missile!"

Tails and Amy both shrieked as the Tornado lurched forward, ducking under a missile coming from behind. Tails whirled around and blasted mercilessly at the source until it blew up.

"Blowing things up- that's always the way to solve a problem…"

"It's just as a bad as bashing thing into dust with a hammer!"

"At least I don't go bullet-crazy, thank you very much-"

"I'm not bullet-crazy! And if I am, then you're hammering mad!"

"Take that back! I've only bashed one thing this entire time-"

"Are you sure about that?"

"At least I don't talk to myself!"

"How do you know that? I mean…uh…"

"Gotcha!"

Tails sulked as Amy held up her head and victory, and both of them cowered in fear of the sound of police chasing them. Tails kicked in into as much overdrive as his thing would allow, while Amy spotted another billboard with Tails. This time she had a clearer picture- right under his face was a bold, red, "WANTED" message.

"I'm not kidding Tails… we've really got to get out of here!"

"I know that!"

Jets swooped dangerously close to them, making Amy sway back and forth from the aftermath gust of wind they left behind- and Tails was swaying back and forth away from the mines and bombs they left behind. The road cracked apart under the explosions of the bombs and both of the runaways gulped.

"Please tell me we're getting close to somewhere safe…" Amy whispered, now that they were out of Radical Highway and off the bridge. "Can you believe they blew up something like that just to get to us?"

"We're getting out of their range and yes, I can believe that. The military, army, police, and all law enforcement just aren't what they used to be…"

Tails then spotted the perfect getaway- an alley! It was just wide enough for them to get through, but not the police.

"Quick! In here before they spot us!"

Amy really didn't have any choice.

"How long will we have to hide out here?"

"As long as it takes…even all night if we have to…"

. . .

**20:21**  
**Mountainous region: Mine-**

"Hm, I didn't expect the inside of the mines to be like this…" Knuckles commented, now in the underground area of the mountain region, just beyond Pumpkin Hill. He fell through a pretty obvious hole- I mean, dug himself there because he sensed Emerald Pieces below. "This is going to be tougher than I thought."

Knuckles, again, wasn't sure where to start. The mines were vaster than Pumpkin Hill was! Taking another good look around, and trying to ignore the annoying drip-drops, Knuckles walked forward and latched onto a lever, pulling him upwards, as levers always did.

"Now let's see if there's a piece up here I can snag…"

There probably wasn't considering the universe was trying to tell Knuckles that there was a piece underwater…or maybe Knuckles was becoming really careless and fell again, landing the water. Gratefully being a much better swimmer than Sonic, but not quite as good as Tails, admittedly, Knuckles started swimming around, feeling a piece nearby. He tried to swim deeper, thinking there was one at the bottom of the water, but his senses began to grow weaker as he did.

"…what."

He swam back up, turning up in a place completely different than from where he entered, but it must've been the Emerald drawing him close, as his senses were becoming stronger again.

"Maybe it's up here after all…" Knuckles mused, cling up a wall. When he reached the top, he found a hidden passage. His instinct told him something bad lurked through there, but his instinct also said that a piece of the Emerald was within. So he jumped down the shaft…and landed in a room full of ghosts.

"It's pretty cold in here…"

Knuckles suddenly felt breath on his neck. He froze, and then slowly turned around. The second the ghost was in his sight, it lashed out with a terrifying cackle that sent Knuckles to the ground, trying to scramble away.

"Why are all these ghosts even here?" he exclaimed, backing up to a wall. Ghosts floated around like he wasn't even there, and bigger ones were gilding around, waiting for a time to strike Knuckles. Knuckles wasn't taking any chances and scurried up the wall, sitting on a beam and looking down. "Ah, creepy. Very creepy. But I'm not scared."

Knuckles then turned his head- his senses were nagging him again. That meant a piece was close by! He stood up on the spot, looking around, and then daring leapt from one metal support beam to the next until he reached one with a Master Emerald shard perched on top of it. He grabbed it and turned too jumped back from where he had come from, but his foot had slipped and caused him to fall. This time Knuckles managed to grab the beam.

"Okay, I don't know why I fell in Pumpkin Hill, but I can say I'm falling in here because it's wet and slippery…"

Thinking it was safe, Knuckles let go…and fell into a swarm of ghosts. One attacked him, causing Knuckles some pain. He tried to fight back but his fists went straight through the paranormal creatures. The echidna sweat dropped, now seeing as he was helpless against the foes, and high-tailed it out of there.

"Well, there's not anymore Master Emerald shards down there anyway…gulp…I hope…"

Knuckles ran to the passage he had taken to get in there and climbed out pronto.

"Okay, not going back in there…"

He looked upwards to see the area he had originally fallen from (and ended up in the water), and figured it still had potential…or he simply wanted to go there because it was far away from the Ghost Room as physically possible. Knuckles grabbed the lever that took him up there, and this time around, he received a signal!

"What are the odds…" he mumbled, headed over to where he figured the piece was. A robot was hovering around in the corner, looking suspicious, but thanks to the might of Knuckles' shovel claw, it was no more, and left behind a piece as a prize. Knuckles stored that piece back in its stash, now only needing to find one more piece in this messed up mine and he could finally get out of here! He walked to the edge and glanced down.

"I really think there's an emerald somewhere underwater…I've checked everywhere else and was even almost eaten by ghosts!"

Spreading out his arms, Knuckles fell forward until he felt the cool rush of the water overcome him. He grinned- his sense started kicking in again. Now with a little more motivation, Knuckles trusted his instinct and swam toward wherever he was led to. He located an underwater passage this time and quickly swam down, the emerald getting closer with every stroke. Towards the bottom of the submerged passed was the final piece of the emerald floating around. Nearly gasping (and nearly drowning himself), Knuckles swam down and chased the emerald piece around in circles until it was his again.

"I have to try harder…" he thought to himself. Knuckles left the water, shook himself off, and started to leave the mines until he encountered a problem.

How was he supposed to get back out of there?

* * *

**Knuckles has returned to the story! And we begin to touch upon the second half of the game- heading on up to Space Colony ARK! However, we've still got a high speed chase and a pyramid to get through first. ^^**


	10. Of Chases and Races

Live and Learn

Chapter 9: Of Chases and Races

Eggman was rapidly punching at everything in a fit of fury, finally reaching the annoyed side of Rouge. Shadow just stood to the side with his arms folded, not caring one way or another as usual.

"Why are you so upset?" She asked, wanting the thrashing to stop. "That was really impressive…you've managed to create complete havoc on the whole planet! Does this now mean we can control the planet and do as we choose?"

"At this rate, the cannon will take too much time to charge up." Shadow muttered, more to himself than to anyone, really. "If you want to unleash its full potential, you'll need all seven Chaos Emeralds."

"Where in the world have you been?" Eggman spat at Rouge, disregarding Shadow for the moment.

Rouge looked utterly innocent. "Something happen?"

"Our threats fell on deaf ears!" Shadow replied, knowing Eggman was too peeved to say anything along those lines.

"Look at you! Throwing a tantrum, like a little kid. How totally embarrassing!" Rouge exclaimed, referring to Eggman get ready to tear his mustache off.

"Don't forget your end of the bargain, Bat Girl!" Eggman hissed. "What about that last Chaos Emerald? We had a deal, right? So where is my Emerald?"

Rouge was prepared. "Here you go! I found this!"

She showed Eggman a newspaper with Tails on the front cover.

"Why didn't you show me this before?" he marched over and read the paper quickly. "What's this? Station Square saved from a life-threatening missile attack. The city has awarded its famed prize to the boy who saved Station Square. Miles "Tails" Prower was legally given the Chaos Emerald as a testament of his heroic deed at a ceremony held at city hall."

Eggman. Was. Now. Beyond. Rage. He was there that day- he was the one who had planted the missile, except it had been a dud (not that anyone knew) and went to go repair it, but Tails had overheard his plans and somehow beat him to it. The two had battled, Tails armed with nothing but his tails and Eggman with a four legged robot monstrosity…and Tails had won. And now, in a way, it was Eggman's fault that he didn't have the final Chaos Emerald.

Shoving his thoughts away violently, Eggman cleared his throat and pretended not to know a thing about what he had just read. "Uh, um, t-this makes things a whole lot easier! Hurry! Go back to Earth and find them fast! I want that Emerald!"

Rouge gave a flirty glance to Shadow. "Didja hear that?"

"Soon enough, Maria…"

Shadow walked away as if he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. Rouge started at him until she picked up her communication device.

"This is Rouge reporting. Currently I have not been able to confirm if Shadow is the Ultimate Life form or not. I will continue my research on Project Shadow and have a follow up report very shortly. Just a reminder…don't forget about my jewels."

**9:03**  
**Capital City-**

_"Sheesh…there always seem to be a lot of police around when you don't need them,"_ Sonic reported to Tails and Amy the next day. Boy, was he ever tired of police by now… _"Tails! Any news yet?"_

"For some reason, I'm not getting a signal from the six remaining Chaos Emeralds. Maybe Eggman took the Emeralds into outer space…"

"Outer space?" Amy gaped.

As they pondered over that, sudden thrashing could be heard. Amy paid more attention to it, as Tails was talking to Sonic through the walkie-talkie. She glanced down and saw a manhole randomly open, and the last person she ever expected climbed out.

"Knuckles?"

"Hey guys. Long time no see." He said casually, as if arriving from the sewers put in a convenient place where his 'friends' happened to be was perfectly normal. "I must've got lost in the mines. Looking for the Master Emerald pieces was tougher than I thought it would be…"

Especially with the Bat Girl in possession of some, he added in his mind.

"Where are we, anyway?" his question was ignored as Amy started tugging on his head. "Hey! Where you goin'?"

"Move aside, Knuckles!"

Ignoring them both, Tails announced his recent discovery.

"I managed to find the transcript between Eggman and the President in the government computer! I'm following the President's limo right now! If we get into the limo, we can trace the call to find Eggman!"

_"Okay! Let's meet up there!"_ Sonic replied.

Tails wasted no time in driving away (apparently the Tornado now had a car function too), and he would've ran over Knuckles if the echidna hadn't ducked out of the way. While Knuckles was contemplating his 'near death' experience, Amy was throwing a fit.

"HEY! Wait for me Tails!" she shrieked, not about to be left behind again. Knuckles just stared at her running away and blinked.

"What about me! I'm stuck here, you know…I thought you were helping me, but I guess I was wrong! See, _this_ is why you can't trust people! As soon as I get out of here, I'll…stop talking to myself…"

**12:10**  
**Near Capital City-**

"The president must be over there!" Tails said to no one in particular, getting the limo in his sights. "I've got to catch up!"

Meanwhile, unknown to Tails, while he was following the limo, someone was following _him_.

"I'm picking up the signal!" Rouge exclaimed, informing her team. "This kid ain't gettin' away!"

"Rouge, how do you plan to even reach him? Let alone get the Chaos Emerald?" Shadow asked through the communication device.

"I know what I'm doing, trust me!"

"If you really wanted that emerald, you'd be going over the speed limit-"

"Yeah Rouge! We're evil! We are allowed to break the law!" Eggman's voice added, a bit cheerfully. Rouge sweat dropped.

"Well, uh, the police are already after the kid, the last thing I need is drawing their attention to me. It'd be bad all the way around!"

"Hmm…you have a point…" "Good call, Rouge!"

Rouge sighed in relief and hung up. "That was close…"

**Meanwhile-**

"Taxi! Quick! Catch up with that odd looking car!" Amy called from the back seat of a yellow taxi, also with Knuckles next to her. "He just ditched me! Can you believe that…"

Knuckles and the driver both muttered, "Yes…"

"I can't believe this!"

"Don't say that- you sound like Eggman-"

"Hush Knuckles, I'm trying to give this guy directions!"

"...We're on a one way road!"

**And while that was happening-**

Tails was definitely a lawbreaker at this point. Not only did he assist in freeing a Prisoner from Prison Island (despite saving his life), but now he was resisting arrest, being too young to drive a car (though he did have a license of sorts…), and speeding while driving that car. Boy.

Rouge, in her snazzy white car, was continuing to follow Tails. She refused to speed up; unless she made sure she was out of eyesight of police. However, her driving skills were a little…rusty, as she continually crashed into the sides. It was sad. An 8-year-old kid could drive better than her.

And both of them took note of a taxi cab swerving down the road. The driver was a nervous wreck from all the hounding Amy was doing, and Knuckles was staring out the window trying to block out the noise. He glanced up and happened to notice a white car…_with that bat in it!_

"Quick! Driver guy! Go after that white car, **_now!" _**Knuckles roared, springing out of his seat and nearly shoving Amy out of the way. "There's a thief in that car who stole something from me!"

"But I-"

"What are you talking about Knuckles? We're going after Tails!"

"Well we're going after that bat now!"

"We've gotta stick with Tails so we can get back to Sonic!"

"We've gotta stick with Bat Girl so I can get my Master Emerald back!"

"To heck with the Master Emerald!"

"TAKE THAT BACK!"

"It's a stupid rock!"

"It's a very power Emerald, and don't make me give you the same lecture I gave the bat!"

"Oh, so you're suddenly a teacher now, giving lectures?"

"That makes no sense!"

"Neither do you! And why are you sweatdropping-"

"Stop trying to change the subject!" Knuckles growled. "You! Driver! White car!"

"No! Follow the two-tailed fox!"

The Driver was about to have a nervous breakdown soon…

. .

"Tails? Did you find the president?"

"Almost there, Sonic…"

Back with Tails, he was practically locked onto the President's limo, not taking his eyes off it for a second…at least, until a yellow taxi pulled into view.

"Ugh, stupid passers…" Tails grumbled, speeding up and passing the car. He glanced over…and could've sworn he saw Amy frantically shouting and pointing right at him. Terrified, he hit the acceleration pedal and flew out of there. Amy happened to see him fly by and stomped her foot.

"There he goes! There he goes!" Amy exasperated, throwing up her hands.

"Well I'm not speeding, that's all I can say!" the driver hissed back.

"Good! That means we can get the bat girl!"

"No it doesn't Knuckles!"

Meanwhile, the Bat Girl had seen Tails suddenly jet forward, and Rouge almost thought that he had figured he had gotten caught. Nevertheless, she was forced to speed up if she wanted any chance of catching up to him. However, just like Tails, she got stuck behind the swerving taxi.

"Well this is beautiful…" she grunted. Rouge slammed her fist on the horn, making Amy and Knuckles inside jump and fall forward.

"What in the world…" Knuckles trailed, looking out the back window.

It was the bat girl with an expression that mirrored his upon them both catching sight of each other.

_"WHOA!"_

Knuckles propelled himself away from the back window and glanced out the left one- only to see the bat girl staring right back at him through_ that_ window. Knuckles yelped and twisted in his seat until he was upside down.

"What's wrong with you?"

"The bat girl! She-"

"Jeez, Knuckles, the way you talk about her makes it seem like you're in love with her or some-"

"SHUT UP I DON'T LOVE HER I WANT MY MASTER EMERALD!"

Amy blinked at him then started cracking up while Knuckles growled and tried to hold back a blush. The driver just looked on.

"I dunno…she _is_ pretty attractive-" he input. Knuckles flashed him a glare.

"I don't love her! You're…nuts!"

"I bet that's why you're following her, in reality! What a stalker!" threw in Amy, snickering.

"Hmph, you're one to talk-"

Chaos ensured in that taxi ride for the rest of the trip. The driver really wished he was someone else right now.

. .

Rouge's eyes were widened, and she was as far away from the steering wheel as possible without letting it go. Had she seen that echidna? She hadn't seen him since their little duel, and he was hardly in her thoughts anymore…but was that really him or some twisted figment of her imagination?

_"You've got to find Tails!"_ Eggman's voice crackled from the device.

"URGH!"

Rouge lunged forward, having crashing into the side of road. This was why you should never think to yourself while driving...or have someone scare the daylights out of you while you _were_ thinking to yourself. She lowered her ears angrily and beared her fangs.

"Now there's no way I'm catching that fox-boy…"

Speaking of him, Tails had taken one last turn in the road and located the limo. He broke out into his broad grin, and pulled up to it. Now all he needed to do was wait for Sonic…

. . .

"Mr. President, reports show that since the incident three hours ago, the country is in turmoil! Our financial communities are impacted and our satellite communications are down. An emergency meeting has been called. Mr. President, this is a national crisis!" the president's closest assistant informed him.

"Spare me the details. Exactly just what is it that you want?…Dr. Eggman?"

Eggman was grinning like a fool, ready to answer the President's question from a screen placed in the limo.

"Hahaha, well, let's just get down to business then, shall we, Mr. President? I won't bore you with details since I know you are a very busy man. Mr. President, my demands are quite simple. Surrender to the Eggman Empire and make no attempts to resist…Otherwise…"

"…otherwise?"

"Otherwise your country will cease to exist! You have 24 hours to give me your answer!"

The President sat forward with his jaw dropped, then leaned back and shook his head. Impossible.

"No way!" a voice cried from outside. The President sat forward again and glanced out the window.

"What the-"

Sonic, who was running up alongside the window, turned and gave a cocky grin and a wink to the President. He jumped into the limo through the open skylight roof window. The President had no clue what was going on. Eggman saw Sonic inside of limo from his screen and grunted.

"Sonic? You-"

Sonic rolled his eyes and struck a pose. "Eggman Empire…Yeah right!"

"What the heck is going on here?" yelped the President. He looked behind Sonic to see Tails tinkering with the screen. Sonic remained calm and tried to assure the President.

"Don't worry, Mr. President. Everything is under control!"

"Oh no…_what did you do?"_

"Just leave it to us! Got it, Tails?"

Tails held up a disk and nodded. "I got it! He's transmitting from the Space Colony ARK!"

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Okay! Let's move it!"

He jumped back through the roof, leaving Tails and the President in a daze. However, Tails followed shortly after crying, "Wait up, Sonic!"

"Hey you! Wait-"

"Mr. President, we're receiving an incoming signal from our agent…"

The President just leaned forward and held his face in his hands.

. . .

"We got it!" Tails cried, jumping into the car. Sonic ran beside him, grinning uncontrollably.

"This is sweet! Now we can set everything straight!" he exclaimed as Tails transformed the Tornado. "We'd better get ready to head on out-"

"SONIC! TAILS!"

Sonic and Tails both gulped as they turned around- Amy's head was sticking out of a Taxi car window, shouting at them. The Taxi instantly stopped and Amy leaped out of the window, followed by Knuckles calmly opening the door to exit. They both trotted away from the car (and both also agreed not to mention the events of what had went on), getting the driver to shout, "What? No tip?"

"Tails ditched me again! Can you believe that, Sonic?" Amy complained, running up to her hero. Sonic glanced at Tails.

"I tried!"

"And he almost nearly ran over me!" Knuckles added. "The city's going to be needing a new sewer system now…"

Everyone started at him. Better not to ask.

Sonic sighed. "Well, I'll take it as you guys want to come with us, huh?"

"Do you even know where you're going?" Knuckles asked. "The only way Eggman got the ARK was probably via something from his base, which I'm guessing you have no idea where it is."

Sonic shrugged while Tails truthfully shook his head.

"We were going to wing it-"

Knuckles struck an important pose. "Well, being the tracker that I am, I was following a certain bat that has pieces of my Master Emerald, and I saw her head for a pyramid in the desert…however I may have gotten lost due to being influenced by the rest of the Master Emerald…"

"Are you saying we should take directions from you, Knuckles?" Amy questioned.

"Who said we were taking _you_?" Tails asked right back.

"Technically I did," Sonic replied. "Though I have a feeling she'll just get in the way…"

"HEY!"

"C'mon! What're we waiting for?" Knuckles questioned, picking up Sonic and Amy and tossing them on the wings while he climbed in the tiny second seat. "The faster we go, the faster we can get that bat girl- uh...and Eggman!"

"And that Faker!" added Sonic, punching a fist into his palm.

"Well if everyone's coming, Knuckles, you need to get on the other wing to balance it out. Amy, you get in the seat." Tails explained.

Knuckles pouted while Amy happily agreed, seeing as she would get closer to Sonic. Sonic just shimmied away from her. Tails revved up the engine after making sure everyone was secure, and then took off for the desert area…

. . .

"Shadow! They're in that blue plane, spotted at 11 o'clock!" Rouge informed Shadow, who was situated in the mountainous region.

"Copy that. I'm in pursuit…I take it you weren't able to obtain the emerald?"

"Let's see if you do any better, Mr. Unsmiley!"

Shadow growled at the nickname then shut off his communicator and jumped off the cliff he was perched on. No worries there- he landed on a metal beam and grinded on down. They didn't call this place Sky Rail for nothing! Once he returned to solid ground, the real trek began. Shadow kept one eye on the path ahead of him and the other on the Tornado flying just out of his way.

"Mr. Unsmiley…Hmph, the nerve of Rouge to call _me_ a name when she can't even handle a job that was signed to her…" he grunted himself, bounding off a spring and shredding down another rail. Did he really not smile that much? ... bah, it didn't matter anyway. There was never anything to smile about- he didn't know why that blue hedgehog grinned so much either.

Shadow rolled his eyes, continuing to grind across the sky. Sonic smiled at every last little thing- he even smiled when he definitely shouldn't be smiling. Even when he loses, even when he's facing the impossible…ugh, Shadow wondered if he had a curse of smiling or something.

"It still doesn't make _me_ Mr. Unsmiley!"

Shadow didn't exactly frown either- his expression was neutral. So Rouge couldn't call him that if he didn't frown, either! But then again, she could if he never smiled…

"...Why am I contemplating such a thing?"

Shadow growled in disgust and focused on his task- he would not end up like Rouge. It was one rail after another, and when one rail ended, and spring would be there to take Shadow up to the next one. The ebony hedgehog wound his way around the sky-high hills and cliffs.

"All I can say is that I'd better catch that plane…" Shadow mused, riding a rail once again. "…and I make it sound like I've missed my flight or something."

He jumped off the currently rail, jumped from cliff wall to cliff wall, landed on the ground, dashed over a boost pad, and took off on yet another rail. Sonic would be so jealous of him right now- one grind rail after another. He'd be in paradise! Shadow, however, found all the constant grinding annoying, unlike Sonic would. Shadow didn't complain, however- they _were_ helping him close in on the Tornado, after all.

Shadow was flung into the air while he was grinding, and for a split second feared that he would end up falling through the rails or something instead of landing on one. He barely missed one- but luckily his hands were fast and managed to latch onto one before it was too late. Without a word of a how close to death he was, Shadow pulled himself up and continued to grind. Shadow ended up on a cliff with a lot of construction, and apparently that construction involved pillars that could shoot flames.

He charged up his own light speed dashed and zipped under the flames and over the ramps, making his way to this particular section of cliff. At the top was another grind rail. Praying he wouldn't screw up and nearly kill himself this time, Shadow pushed off and made sparks fly on his way down. He then jumped off and rushed up a cliff, not taking his eyes off the plane flying just above his head…until he realized he had reached a dead end with no hope of ever catching up to them this way.

"Maybe I didn't try hard enough…"

Glowering as Tails and the rest of them flew away, Shadow suddenly realized where they were going. He pulled out his communicator and instantly rang up Eggman.

"Doctor, they're heading directly toward us. What should we do?"

"Just sit tight. I've got them on radar. There's no way they can get away! I don't know what they are planning, but I'll be sure to give them a warm welcome…"

Shadow let the walkie talkie hang at his side as Eggman finished the message.


	11. Journey to the Center of a Pyramid

Live and Learn

Chapter 10: Journey to the Center of a Pyramid

**13:04**  
**Desert Area-**

The group of four had landed just on the outskirts of Eggman's pyramid base, with Tails having transformed the Tornado into "walker mode".

"Inside that pyramid?" Sonic asked, shielding his eyes from the blazing sun to get a better look.

"I saw Eggman go inside that pyramid, and more importantly, I saw that bat girl go inside with him as well." Knuckles explained. Amy snickered to herself until Knuckles gave her a warning glance. "You saw them too, right?"

Amy scratched her head. "Well, yeah-"

Sonic cut Amy off. "We should be able to get into outer space from there! I don't know what this space colony is all about but I'll find and destroy that cannon…and then kick their imperial butts!"

"All right!" threw in Knuckles, pumping a fist.

"I'll go and find the entrance!" Tails announced, walking up a few steps in his machine. Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy gave nods and said they'd catch up with him once the way was cleared. "Okay!"

Basically it was the same path that Rouge and Eggman himself had traveled on, but this time it was the middle of the day, not the middle of the night. Tails navigated spinning platforms, took the guard robots out of commission, hovered across gaps, and blasted boxes into several pieces. Good thing Amy didn't plan on hitching a ride with him this time; she would've had an episode about that!

Eventually, Tails detonated his way in through the secret passage, but not quite signaling the rest of the gang just yet. There were still a few traps and robots he needed to clear out, and who knew what else when it came to Eggman! However, once he cleaned out the way, he cheerfully picked up the communicator and announced: "That was easy! The way's wide open for you guys to follow me in!"

"Roger that, Tails!" Sonic responded back. "We'll be there in a snap! That is, if Knuckles and Amy can keep up!"

Sonic instantly sped off, Knuckles not about to be outdone like that and followed after. Amy hardly knew what was happening until she realized she had been behind. Again.

"Stop treating me like I'm useless baggage or something!" Angrily, she stomped her foot, whipped out her hammer, and followed after Sonic and Knuckles. "You are NOT leaving me behind again!"

Sonic just chuckled to himself- he knew they could handle themselves; it was him who he needed to worry about! Besides, what could be more fun than navigating through a pyramid base crawling with things trying to kill you that you don't even know your way around in? Not to mention-

"GHOSTS!" he heard Knuckles yell from behind him. "Get it off! Get it off!"

"I've got it!"

"Amy don't-"

Amy smacked Knuckles in the head trying to bash the ghost, but obviously that didn't work. Sonic rolled his eyes and carried on- this was why it should only be him and Tails. Why was Knuckles even hanging around? Didn't he prefer to work alone anyway?

"Whatever! I'm outta here! Maybe he'll distract Amy or something for me…" Sonic hoped, running over a Boost Pad and tearing down the pyramid's main hall. It was large, had cobwebs plastered everywhere, and bunch of loops than Sonic jumped through just for fun and to show off. He heard Amy and Knuckles' voices echoing in the background, bickering away. He attempted to tune them out, but they bounced off the walls!

"I hope you've learned that ghosts aren't solid, Amy…"

"I said I was sorry! I was trying to help!"

"I still wonder what that ghost was trying to do to me…brr, it was worse than the ones in Pumpkin Hill or Aquatic Mine!"

"Aquatic where?"

"Never mind."

Sonic made a face, trampling over a ramp and launching himself to the next section of the base. He unintentionally kicked a random hourglass over, but apparently it was a good thing, considering it opened the door before him.

"I wonder if I lost Amy and Knuckles…"

Not taking a chance, Sonic continued to speed down the halls, bounce of walls and make hourglasses fall. He was trying to get away (more from Amy than from Knuckles) but the occasion cry of "Is that a Master Emerald Piece?" or "Sonic! Stop trying to run away from our love!" definitely betrayed his hopes and dreams. So he sighed and kept on running, hoping to find Tails soon.

Sonic entered a new room and unintentionally ran straight onto a grind rail- awesome for him! This gave him a chance to glance back for signs of Knuckles and Amy- no sign of raging red or way-too-passionate pink. Sonic sighed in relief. There was no way they could catch him now, especially if he was on a grind rail!

"This just keeps getting better!" Sonic cried, leaping off the rail he was on and onto another. He rocketed right into another hall, where another ghost seemed to be orbiting him.

"Uh, hi?"

"Eeee heeee heee!"

It tackled Sonic, causing the hedgehog to yelp and try to shake it loose.

"AIIIIIIII!"

"I take it Sonic got into an encounter with a ghost…"

"We have to hurry so we can save him!"

"And by save, I assume you mean bonk him on the head?"

Sonic's face fell. First he was getting mauled by a ghost and having his dignity deplete by the second, and now he discovers Amy and Knuckles were still right behind him. Beautiful. He curled up into a ball and Light Dashed away, causing the ghost to finally release its grip of Sonic and for Sonic to gain a considerable amount of speed.

"Tails, Tails…oh, where are you? You should've waited!" Sonic mused to himself.

More ghosts bounced along the halls and Sonic did his very best to avoid each and every one. Once he was out of the "ghost hall", Sonic arrived at one that was…more of his style. He smirked.

"Cool."

It twisted and turned, looped and swooped, spiraled and winded its way around. Sonic grinned and bolted forward in a blue flash, wanting to go as fast as he could possibly go. A sudden boom emerged from Sonic's aftermath, followed by two shrieks and a thud into a wall.

"Heh heh…"

The blue blur rocketed right on through, his spirit as free as the wind. He even felt like wind as he hovered in the air…thanks to a ramp. Not expecting to be in the air, Sonic floundered around until he toppled back down to solid footing.

"Didn't see that coming…yikes!"

Sonic dashed out of the way of lasers being fired from one of Eggman's robots. Narrowing his eyes in determination, Sonic spin dashed into it, brought it to pieces then tore down another winding path.

"If only this place didn't belong to Eggman…nor had very creepy ghosts."

"Sonic! Glad you made it!" Tails cried, waving and motioning to a door. Sonic waved back and caught up with him. "Did you run into any trouble?"

"Nah, it was too easy! Piece of cake!"

Tails smiled. "That's good. Where's Knuckles and Amy?"

"Uh-"

"We're coming!" Amy shrieked as Knuckles glided down carrying her. Sonic smacked his head.

"How did they…"

"You didn't think you could leave us in the dust, did you Sonic?" Knuckles snickered.

"Hey Knuckles. Nice of you to drop by."

"He wouldn't leave us in the dust because I was with you, Knuckles!" Amy giggled. Sonic was dying to make a reply to that.

"Looks like we're headed for the center of the base…" Tails trailed, getting everyone to turn their attention to the locked door.

"That egghead sure loves mechanical things, doesn't he? I bet he has one or two spaceships lying around here somewhere." Sonic commented in return.

"The door is locked. We need a key to get in there!"

"No problem! We can find it, right Knuckles?" Sonic replied without missing a beat. Knuckles was taken aback.

"What? Why do I have to find the key?"

"Well you're a treasure hunter! Can't you find it?"

"Ugh, no way- a key isn't a treasure!"

"A real treasure hunter shouldn't have any difficulty finding something as simple as a_ key_," Tails scoffed.

"How do we know you haven't been pretending to be a treasure hunter all this time?" question Amy teasingly.

"Maybe he is, but he just isn't a very good one!" snorted Sonic.

Knuckles pretty much snapped after that comment. "Fine! I'll look…"

"We're counting on you buddy…the world's greatest treasure hunter!" Sonic exclaimed, giving Knuckles a thumbs up. Knuckles grumbled to himself as he stalked off.

"This is exactly why I like to work _alone…"_

Now that he had the task of locating a key, Knuckles quickly realized that he needed not just one key, but 3- like Rouge did (not that he knew that).

"A key isn't a treasure…but hopefully my instincts won't fail me now."

Basically his instincts were all Knuckles could rely on. He cracked his knuckles then said, "Let's get cracking!" Then sweat dropped.

However, it didn't take long to catch the trail of the first key, which was apparently just beyond a door that he opened via knocking over an hourglass. Knuckles briefly wondered why the doors were operated that way, and then wondered if it was already like that, or if Eggman thought of something like that. Probably the latter.

"Now, where would Eggman hide a key…" Knuckles pondered.

He saw a doorway quickly closing in the corner and sprinted over there, ending up in the metallic hall that Rouge had once explored. When he ended up on the other side, his senses went mad!

"It's closer!"

But where was it? He didn't see it! Knuckles climbed up- the key got farther. Knuckles climbed down- the key also got farther!

"Where is it? !"

Knuckles angrily punched the wall, causing the key to drop down and hit him in the head. He blinked.

"Ow. That works."

He picked it up, muttering something about how great it was that Sonic wasn't around at the time. He studied the key- it was silver with the head looking like- well, Eggman's head. How original was that? Now that Knuckles knew what the keys looked like, he was hoping that it would make finding them a whole lot easier.

Knuckles left the current room (noting that it had been a reddish color) and went down the next hall into a greenish room- with ghosts.

"Eee heee heee!"

"Gah! Not again! Why are there so many ghosts all of a sudden?"

One simply poked Knuckles, and that was enough to get him scurrying into the next section of the pyramid.

"Ah ha-ha, there wasn't a key in there anyway…"

After obtaining the final two keys (that he found via digging a hole in a wall in the blue area and another inside a robot) he tried to return to the rest of the gang with the keys, ready to prove that he was indeed a treasure hunter.

"…and a darn good one at that…yeah, I feel good!"

Knuckles didn't find it at all odd that there were several ghosts following him- creepy, but he was starting to get used to it- so he didn't take it as suspicious at all.

"Bleeharaghraghblah…"

Knuckles froze and glanced over his shoulder. "Huh? W-Who's there?"

Floating behind him was the biggest, blobbiest, and probably creepiest looking ghost Knuckles had seen yet- and behind him were the army of smaller ghosts that were trailing him.

"What the…a ghost? !"

Unlike the previous ghosts, this one had long arms with hands, a huge mouth filled with sharp teeth, and an eerie looking rainbow tongue. Knuckles cringed, and then started running. King Boom Boo cackled and chased the poor echidna.

"Grrraaarrgghhh!"

Knuckles just ran, hoping to get away…but the exit to the room was blocked off and now he was caught running in a circle. Great! The echidna (who was NOT scared whatsoever…) glanced over his shoulder, then leaped out of the way of a flame-like thing the wailing ghost threw.

"Okay, okay…gotta find a way to beat this thing! Um…"

Knuckles kept running and avoiding flames, until he was almost behind King Boom Boo. There, he found a smaller ghost holding an hourglass. He cocked his head.

"What's it doing…no matter- it's in my way!"

Knuckles jumped up and kicked the timer out of the ghost's hands, causing it to flip over. The room suddenly got brighter! Knuckles looked up- skylights had opened, letting in light!"

"Grahawahawahwah…"

King Boom Boo was stunned by the light, and then seeped into the floor to hide from the torture. Knuckles smirked.

"Just the edge I needed!"

It was still a tiny bit creepy watching a ghost float around as a freaky-looking shadow through a floor, but it did the trick for Knuckles! He knew the sand in the timer was running out, so he quickly glided around the corner above the shadow, then dug into the spot where the evil spirit was. King Boom Boo cried out and sprung out of the ground, trying to get away fast.

"Oh no you don't!" Knuckles yelled, springing up after him. He ran over and struck the ghost with a hearty swing of his Shovel Clawed fist. The move apparently did damage to King Boom Boo, as he was turning red with pain and went spiraling into the wall. Knuckles gave chase to hit again, but unfortunately the skylights closed and the king was invincible once more.

"At least I know how to get him vulnerable now!"

Now armed with an effective battle strategy…Knuckles ran for his life once again since king Boom Boo was now trying to bite his jagged tail off! It was scary, even for Knuckles- he could feel the ghost's breath ("Wait…how do ghosts breathe?") running down his neck!

"BLAAARGGHH!"

"Gulp…"

King Boom Boo swooped in, trying to chomp down on Knuckles, causing the echidna to cry out- instinctively, of course. To Knuckles' surprise, however, King Boom Boo stopped and started laughing.

"Neeehahahahahah!" the ghost king then blinked and growled again. "GrraAAAAHH!"

"Big mistake, buddy!" Knuckles grunted, getting ready to flip the hourglass over again. Boom Boo then turned around right as Knuckles appeared to knock it down, blasting the echidna with him blue flames. Scowling, and now somewhat burned, Knuckles was forced to turn around and start running the other way. The foe was so busy spewing fire that it gave Knuckles the chance to run back around the other way, reach the hourglass, and open the skylight.

"GAAARRR!"

"Let's do it again!"

King Boom became a shadow once more to protect himself from the sunlight, but Knuckles was one step ahead and was already floating over the shadow, which was moving on the wall this time. Knuckles attacked by 'digging' into it again, King Boom Boo evacuated almost immediately, and Knuckles swooped down with a nasty punch.

"Now that I know your tricks, you can't escape me!"

King Boom Boo replied with a pained howl. He started to float away from Knuckles but the echidna wasn't going to have it. He struck another two blows on the fiend before the skylight closed and Boom Boo swatted him away like a fly. Knuckles went sliding across the floor and slammed into a wall, forced to hear the ghostly laugh echo through the room.

"That does it!" he roared, grabbing the back of his head and jumping up. Charging like a bull, Knuckles ran toward King Boom Boo- which was another stupid idea, considering King Boom Boo just brushed him off again. Knuckles decided not to try that again and promptly staggered to run away. King Boom Boo kept diving down toward him, ready to dine on an echidna appetizer.

"Apparently he's gotten faster!" Knuckles exclaimed, now finding himself on his toes and the ghost on his heels- and coming up fast. "One more time around, and he's going down! …hey! A rhyme!"

King Boom Boo swung at Knuckles, then started throwing fire. Knuckles leaped out of the way then focused on getting back around King Boom Boo. Once more, as he started going one way, the king turned around (while wailing) and started chasing Knuckles in the opposite direction! This pattern kept going on for awhile until Knuckles was fed up and ended up "pulling a Sonic".

"RAGH!"

Knuckles braked to a stop then once again charged at King Boom Boo. He noticed a smirk tug at the corners of his mouth as he prepared to swat the echidna, but Knuckles at the last second ducked under it, rolled under King Boom Boo, then jumped up and whacked the hourglass at a speed that would at least make Sonic take notice.

"BlehARRGGH!"

"Time to shed some light on this battle!…dang that was horrible…"

King Boom Boo emerged into the wall once again, Knuckles running aside him, trying to hurry and strike before the skylights closed. Taking a daring jump up, Knuckles thrust his fist into the wall then almost simultaneously dug the other into the wall. He received that same pained wail from King Boom Boo again. Once the ghost emitted from the wall, Knuckles was all over him. He tackled the ghost (now that he could), sending them both rolling into the opposite wall. King Boom Boo went to barbeque Knuckles, but Knuckles' fist was quicker, and that very fist also, at last, took out the ghostly king.

"Ungh!"

Knuckles bounced off the failing defeated spirit, landing on the ground but still looking somewhat satisfied.

"Huh…what a hassle…"


	12. Battle Then Blast Off

Live and Learn

Chapter 11: Battle Then Blast Off

**14:58  
****In the pyramid-**

At last, the door finally opened, Knuckles wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Huh…that was pretty rough…"

"We did it!" Tails cried out, completely oblivious to Knuckles panting beside him. Amy was equally as excited while Sonic was stretching in the background due to impatience. "Let's go Amy!"

"Yeah!"

"You little thieves…did you_ really_ think you could get out of here _alive?"_

All four of them gasped and turned around- arriving from behind another was none other than Dr. Eggman. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were completely shocked while Sonic acted like he knew something like this would happen.

"Come and get some, Eggman!"

"Sonic!" Tails started to warn.

Sonic shook his head and struck a battle pose. "Just leave it to me!"

"This time, I'll take your lives as well as the Chaos Emerald!" Eggman growled as he pointed evilly at them. Then, he smirked. "I call on you to destroy these pests. Come out, my servant!"

One large stone hand arose out of the very center of the pyramid, pulling the rest of its body upwards. Even Sonic jumped back at the sight of the massive goliath-sized monster. Tails and Amy instantly scrambled clear out of the way while Knuckles glanced around and told himself that Sonic could handle it and went to "make sure Tails and Amy were okay", all three of them leaving Sonic to gawk up at Eggman's servant.

"Now go and squash that blue hedgehog, Sonic!"

The Egg Golem, as it was called, swung a mighty fist aimed to, literally, squash Sonic. Sonic barely had enough time to jump out of the way, despite being the fastest thing alive.

"I take it you guys aren't going to help me?" Sonic called to his hiding friends as he scurried about the room.

"I can't beat that thing!" Amy cried. "I'd be crushed instantly!"

"Eh…um...uh…" Tails stammered. "Well, it appears to, uh, be really easy to beat so unless you absolutely _need_ my help-"

"I think you've got it under control Sonic!" Knuckles threw in boldly.

"What are you talking about Knuckles? You're more afraid than Tails and I combined!" Amy explained.

"Yeah Knuckles- w-wait, who said we were even scared in the first place?"

"Psh, like I couldn't take this chump rock down by myself-"

"Then get out there and go do it!"

"Erm…"

Sonic smacked his head. "If ya want somethin' done just do it yourself…"

Although he was hoping that Tails was somewhat right about the thing being easy to beat.

As he ran about the room, Sonic realized that Egg Golem had platforms jetting out of its back that apparently led up to the head, which apparently was the weakness.

"Psh, go figure."

He jumped his way to the top, followed by a series of spin-dashing and crashing into the head. As the Egg Golem suffered the blow, Sonic bounded away, glancing at his friends and snickering, "Wimps!"

Amy, Tails, and Knuckles all instantly protested, but Sonic held up a hand.

"No, no, no. I wouldn't want Amy hurt or anything…and Tails and Knuckles, you guys were right! I can handle this myself because it is such an easy battle after all!"

Knuckles prepared to stomp over the hit Sonic but Tails and Amy quickly grabbed his wrists and held him back. Sonic started stretching again, smirking all the while.

"Let's do this for real, shall we?"

Sonic ran to the back of the ever-so Golem since Eggman's "minion" was more focused on striking slow punches to the floor rather than the hedgehog he was ordered to crush. Cockily he bounced from stair to stair then conked the Golem in the head again. This time, although damage was done, the Golem didn't flinch.

"You're way too slow!" Sonic called, jumping back off again. The second he landed however, a rock-hard fist came crashing down on him and knocked him off the platform floor. Amy cried out, Knuckles cringed, and Tails shook his head.

"Ow…" all three of them murmured afterwards.

Sonic, meanwhile, had been pounded out of his senses just about, and hardly had enough to grab onto a red hook (that he even knew less about why it was even there) to take himself back up to the battle floor. Once back on his feet, the daring, bold, dashing hero heroically…started stumbling around.

"Wowzers what happened…"

"Shows you "easy" and "you can handle it"," grumbled Knuckles, receiving a violent hit from Amy.

"Get it together Sonic!" Tails called. Sonic shook it off and glanced at the group again.

"It would be a lot easier if I wasn't alone!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Sonic dove away from another fist-smashing, rolling back onto his feet and sprinting for Egg Golem's back once again. Again, it wasn't a challenge at all to jump from each one, and then spin dash up to the head. As Sonic returned to the ground again, he noted Golem sparking with electricity.

"Must be finally eroding him down! Heh heh."

"That was TERRIBLE-"

"Quiet Knuckles!"

Tails started laughing though. "I get it! Since he's made of mostly rock, and…he's…getting…eroded?"

"At least someone thinks I'm funny!" Sonic exclaimed, glaring at Knuckles as he said 'someone'. Knuckles just shrugged.

Amy suddenly gasped. "Sonic look out!"

"Whuzz-OOMPH!"

The Golem had started whirling its arms around like a propeller, once again sweeping Sonic right off the platform. He landed head-first into the sand.

"What is with me and falling on my face?"

Emerging from the 'dirty doom', Sonic waiting until the "sweep move" was finished before grabbing onto the hook, pulling himself back up, and rushing over and striking the ever-so weak head again. Eggman watched from the sidelines, trying to hide his look of worriedness. Tails noticed this and whispered to Knuckles and Amy.

"So much for 'taking our lives as well as the Chaos Emerald', huh?"

"Yeah I know. He's just letting that thing squish Sonic! What, are we not good enough?"

"All I can say is that this piece of junk belongs with the rest of Eggman's creations!" Sonic cried, getting ready to strike the final blow. "Nice try, Rocky!"

"Still lame-"

"Still, shut up Knuckles!"

Golem went to strike Sonic with another punch, but Sonic sprung upwards, wailing a battle cry with his foot extended. He made sharp contact with the weak point of the head, causing the Egg Golem to topple backward and for Sonic to push off into a back flip. Eggman pounded his walker's dash board as the golem weight caused it to swing around, and then fall forward with a loud thud. It still apparently worked, since its head was spinning around like mad.

"When Sonic struck his head- so many times-, he must have broken the restraining mechanism!" Eggman growled, shaking his fist as his fury grew. "ARGH! What a piece of junk!"

"That's what I said!" he heard Sonic sing from wherever he was at now.

Apparently Golem had heard Eggman's snide remark and reached out for the doctor with one large, threatening hand, forcing a pathetic and cheesy cry of "Noooo!" to emerge from the victim…

. . .

..Meanwhile Sonic and friends had located a rocket.

"Green light launch."

The top of the pyramid started to open, making way for the spacecraft to take off from.

"Primary engine ignition on."

The rockets roared to life.

"Beginning countdown. 10...9...8..."

Sonic chuckled to himself as he hurried aboard the shuttle, making it inside just in time.

"…5...4...3...2...1...Shuttle Liftoff."

. . .

Eggman gritted his teeth and readied his Walker for battle- his own creation, turned against him thanks to Sonic! Egg Golem made a rumbling noise as he used his 'crusher' move, but even Eggman was fast enough to avoid that.

"Perhaps I should've pumped up the threat of this creation a bit more…"

Well, at least for him all he'd have to do is defeat it the same was Sonic almost did. It was even using the same moves it used against Sonic! Eggman decided to dispatch it once and for all and started maneuvering around, trying to get behind Egg Golem. When he did, he realized the platforms were gone…but he still shot mercilessly at his creation anyway, sending chips of rocks flying in every direction. Eggman worked into an evil cackle and hardly noticed the Egg Golem had turned around- until he clomped a giant stone hand onto top of Eggman.

"OUCH! Worthless consumer model…"

Golem made a deep rumbling sound before doing the "sweep" move; one thanks to Eggman's slowness damaged the doctor and his machine twice. Eggman was about to burst into a set of very angry words as he blasted away again, but then took notice of the Golem's from- a part of the inside was exposed! Quickly targeting that with a missile and a rainbow of other things, Eggman did pretty decent damage to the Golem.

"Ha, more than Sonic could've done," he grumbled afterwards, ceasing his fire to avoid another cobbering. Being as nimble as he could with his clunky walker, Eggman avoided being tenderized by fists and took deadly aim at the Golem's chest again. POW, another part of Golem was blasted off. Boom, another piece of the inside had exploded. Ouch, another hand smacked into Eggman.

"Oh no…my power is going down!" he cried. Eggman glared daggers up at the Egg Golem. He wasn't going to get away with this! Flipped the caps on two buttons on his steering wheel, Eggman pressed them both down and fired away at the Golem not caring if he was hit. Luckily Golem had currently been turn around just about giving Eggman perfect aim to his back, and the doctor no injuries. With even greater luck, he unintentionally, but still meant to do anyway, struck the final pressure point of Egg Golem's, officially making him ready for the scrap yard.

. .. .

"So this is the Space Colony where Eggman was hiding!" Sonic exclaimed, now that they were approaching said colony. Everyone had stayed unusually quiet during the trip, and not even Sonic's current comment started up any conversation.

At least, until they smacked into an asteroid.

"What the-"

"Is everyone alright?" Tails asked, once the spaceship stopped spinning. "We should be landing soon!"

"Oh NO! That hatch doors are open!"

"Don't sweat it, Knuckles!" Sonic said cheerfully. "The only things in the cargo bay are those Master Emerald shards!"

Knuckles instantly glowered at Sonic. "…what do you mean 'don't sweat it'?"

"Just take it slow and steady, Tails-"

"Hurry it up!" Knuckles shouted, now standing between Tails and Sonic who were driving. Both of the turned to gawk.

"HUH?"

"Land this shuttle and let me out!"

"Knock it off Knuckles!"

"Knuckles! What's the matter with you?" screamed Tails.

"The Master Emerald! I can sense it!"

"KNUCKLES!" yelped Amy, now entering the shouting fest. "LET GO OF THE WHEEL!"

"We're gonna crash this thing if you keep this up!"

Now Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic all had their hands on the control and were screaming at each other while Amy sat in the other back seat screaming bloody murder.

"All right! Calm down, will ya? We're all going to the same place anyway! "

"Master Emerald, here I come!"

"OH NO! Don't touch that lever!"

All four of them now glanced out the window and started screaming one by one.

* * *

**And thus begins the ARK part of the story! 8D ...odd how it goes from Sonic being framed to an escape from an island to running from cops to running around a space station to trying to blow up a cannon. Strange. **


	13. Start of the Cannon Countdown

Live and Learn

Chapter 12: Start of the Cannon Countdown

**Inside Space Colony ARK**  
**Cannon Countdown: 2 hours 11 minutes-**

"What's up with that knucklehead anyway? Trying to take over the shuttle! I thought we were toast for sure!" Sonic complained to Amy and Tails, who had already returned to his transformed Tornado. Everyone then turned to each other and started glancing around the room. "Huh? Where did he go now?"

"Look like he bailed…" Tails trailed.

"This place looks deserted- dusty too!" Amy exclaimed, hardly paying attention to the "Missing Knuckles" factor.

"This place was shut down about fifty years ago because of a terrible accident…" Tails explained. "The First Bernoulli Spherical Space Colony, called ARK. When it was operational, it was the most advanced research center of its kind…but looking at it now…"

"But now it's an abandoned ARK, wouldn't you say?"

"There's not much time left before Eggman fires that weapon again! We've got to hurry! Let's find that weapon and destroy it!"

"Yeah!" Tails agreed, already punching something in on his tiny dashboard. Sonic and Amy walked up and peered over his shoulders. "Okay, someone designed the weapon to be impenetrable to outside attacks. Its defense shields are super strong so we have to find to destroy it from the inside…"

Tails opened up a silver case, containing a yellow jewel. Amy gasped dramatically.

"Isn't that a Chaos Emerald?"

Before Sonic made a snide remark, Tails butted in. "It looks like it, doesn't it? But in facts it's a fake one I created after researching the real Emerald. It has the same wavelengths and properties, but it's less powerful than the real one. It's designed the reverse the energy filed inside the Chaos Emeralds and blow up! It looks so real, even a machine can't tell the difference!"

Sonic whistled.

"I'll find the power supply and destroy it. Sonic, you find the control, room, okay?" Tails handed Sonic the fake emerald while explaining. Sonic grinned and explained it himself.

"…so, the plan is, we'll switch the Chaos Emeralds when the machine has stopped, right?"

Tails nodded seriously, and the duo instantly took off once again-

"I hate you! You guys always leave me behind and have all the fun!"

Amy's complaint echoed throughout the walls of the entire ARK…

. . .

Tails wasted no time in zapping his way through the ARK- they hardly had two hours left! He took a deep breath and pushed onward.

"If only this place wasn't being used for evil…I'd love to take a look around at what technology was used here…"

He made his way down several halls and futuristic doors, taking down any bots along the way. A few in particular made Tails' eyes widen with interest- shame such amazing creations had to blow up. It all truly was fascinating, if you thought about it from a non-lethal way. Tails was up in the first Space Colony, surrounded by all sorts of the world's most advanced technology, only to have to destroy it all because it was being used for evil. Tails' slight frown deepened as he watched another robot spark with electricity on the ground.

Tails made his way over a bridge connecting one part of the ARK to another, only to be nearly shot off thanks to another hovering creation. Tails destroyed it while at the same time struggling to regain his balance. His heart stopped when he felt the Tornado-walker lurched backward, but a quick push forward seemed to set it back on course.

"Way, way, way too close…"

Hurrying off the bridge, he didn't realize it was a dead end until too late! Tails gasped and quickly shifted into hover mode, safely landing on a nearby platform. He gulped.

This place is trying to kill me…"

Slightly terrified, Tails continued onward.

"If only Sonic were here…I can handle this myself, but it's never fun just to travel alone…"

At least Sonic gave him someone to talk to- Amy was right, talking to himself had begun to become a habit…

"If only it wasn't for Sonic getting arrested because he was framed by some hedgehog that appeared after Eggman found him! Then maybe we could just simply relax…"

But on the other hand, there was nothing like an adventure to give you that feeling of adrenaline. It-

"WAAAH!"

Tails was smacked by a random blue tentacle, belonging to some sort of living creation! It was a random blob of blue goo that slightly resembled Chaos, apparently capable of making its own decisions! …or simply doing one, which at that point was practically ruining Tails.

"Stop shooting out your tentacles!"

Every time Tails went to move, zing! Tentacle got in his way. It took quite the evasive maneuvers and right timing to kill it and proceed…but then there was _another_ one in the next room!

"UGH!"

Tails swerved back and forth, avoiding any already shot tentacles and hoping to evade any newly stretched ones. This time, he managed to get out of the room without having to kill the specimen, which was extremely lucky, since Tails' power was practically failing him.

"Oh boy…"

His walker wouldn't be able to hold out against any other attacks at this rate… never the less, Tails still pressed onward to find the power supply. He could tell he was getting close- more traps and robots and even dynamite packs were scattered along the path. Tails had to up his offense toward the robots, but watched where he was shooting in case he hit a dynamite pack.

Tails was so shaken he couldn't even explain it, even with his massive vocabulary.

"Please am I almost there…please am I almost there…" he whispered repeatedly under his breath, not sure if he could handle much more. All he had to do was reach the power supply and all would be good!

"Woo!"

Tails suddenly spiraled out into a somewhat zero gravity area, floating around and zapping any enemies- even upside down! It was actually a little fun!

"But I've gotta go!"

He made it to the next area (which, to him, seemed upside down), went through there, was hit by a blue blob tentacle creature, and free-fell off the edge though a huge, cylinder shape room that was down for quite a few stories. Blob monsters and lasers jetting out from the walls seemed to want to kill him, however.

"Tails! I found the control room!" Sonic's voice emerged from the intercom.

Tails' eyes widened as he landed himself on a platform- right in front of the power supply.

"Okay! I'll destroy the power supply!"

The power supply was a huge generator, pumping energy and churning power all at the same time. Tails marveled at such a spectacle, and then recalled that he to destroy it.

"For Sonic!" he exclaimed, unleashing everything in his arsenal to destroy the mechanism. He hit the 9 main blue buttons that kept the machine in check, then dealt one last blow to assure that the power supply would in no way, shape, or form deliver power to the Eclipse Cannon.

**ARK: Central control room-**

"Hi, doctor. How's it going? …what? What do you mean they escaped?" Rouge stated, talking to Eggman from her communicator back in the room of most their operations. "That's okay. I'll go after them myself!"

She then smirked a little causing her fangs to protrude a little as she asked sweetly, "Can you tell me the password for space colony control?"

_"…M. A. R. I. A. Maria. That's the magic word."_ Eggman's voice could be head growling.

Mere moments later she shut off the communication and laughed to herself. "Tricking that old doctor is just too easy! Anyway, it's time to get to work!" She situated herself in front of the computer, grinning slyly. "The password is MA-RI-A."

Rouge froze.

"Maria? I've heard that name somewhere before…oh well. Let's see what pops up!"

Random files appeared on the fluorescent blue computer screen, Rouge watching with glee at all the information was being revealed to her. However, when she came across one particular file, it just about made her day.

"This is it! Research Project Shadow. The Ultimate Life Form. Let's see now-"

The screen suddenly flashed with "WARNING."

"What in the world is this…Project Shadow? Sealed off? This can't be right. Just what is Shadow anyway?"

She glanced at the corner of the screen, now that the "Warning" sign had grown, also seeing Sonic's crew now aboard the ARK- Sonic, Tails, and Amy, with no current sign of Knuckles. But it still gave the bat an idea. Rouge flashed her fangs and stretched out her wings.

"I guess I'll just have to take the last pieces of the Master Emerald…"

Now suddenly excited, Rouge took off to hunt down the Master Emerald pieces that had scattered around the ARK. Her enlightened treasure seeking skills became active as she entered the outside part of the ARK. She got Goosebumps- Master Emerald pieces were around!

"Now let's see what I can gather before the doctor destroys the world…"

Where to start? That was the problem with all treasure hunting escapades. The place was so big though- some twisted combination of technology and rock. Rouge smirked to herself. Kind of like Eggman's pyramid base!

Anyway, Rouge started the hunt by grabbing onto a rocket that launched her to a small moon-like planetoid, with green crystals scatter about. Too bad they weren't Master Emerald pieces! Pocketing a few of them anyway, Rouge declared there was nothing on that planet worthy for her. So she climbed up an observatory tower of sorts and latched onto another rocket. This time, she landed on a planet with a mossy texture.

"Ugh…it better not stain my boots…"

Stepping around carefully until she hit a spring, giving her height so she could fly better, Rouge scoured around for an emerald. There weren't any. She landed on man-made platform and folded her arms.

"Searching for three emeralds in this area is like trying to find a needle in a haystack!"

She scowled. While grumbled to herself and nor paying any attention t where she was going, Rouge tripped over a misplaced spring that shot her higher than any other spring before.

"What the- OMPH!"

She crashed into another tower.

"Ow…"

Rouge rubbed her head and glanced around after glaring daggers and the tower jetting out of another planetoid. The planetoid she was on was similar to the first, only with one significant difference-

"There's an emerald here!"

Her senses began to nag Rouge in the back of her mind, making the bat go crazy for the craving of jewels! After a bit of poking around, she at long last found one lying next to a blue light.

"Only two more!"

Now done with that planetoid, she ventured to the next one, which happened to also be carrying a strong hint of Master Emerald shard in the…lack of air? Rouge shrugged- it was just an expression anyway. The new area was a massive tower that not even Rouge was sure jetted out from. However, the second emerald's presence was near, which was what kept her going. Landing on one of the 'balconies', her treasure seeking skills were detecting an emerald really close by.

"Now where is it?"

She searched the 'balcony', knowing that it had to be close, but after overturning and bashing every box in sight there was still no Master Emerald shard. Yet, her senses were still going bonkers and finally, Rouge looked up.

There was a container flying above her head.

"…is it in there?" she asked bluntly, more in a statement than a question. Rouge did a backflip with an outstretched leg, making contact with the flying box and breaking it. Out came a piece of the sacred gem, which Rouge leaned forward to catch before it hit the ground.

"Whew! Just one more…"

Rouge stepped away from the edge of the balcony, then ran straight for it at full speed. She pushed off, letting herself free-fall off the edge. It was almost…relaxing, just falling like that, her wings providing even more of a glide downwards. Rouge wasn't really sure where she was going to search next, until she faintly felt the presence of the final emerald. Rouge swooped out of her fall and hovered carefully to another planetoid, this one decorated in yellow lights. She just knew that the last piece was here! The female treasure hunter jumped up and started gliding around the mini-planet, hoping to catch sight of the emerald. Lucky for her, it was sitting right smack dab in the center of a platform, giving her easy access to nab it for herself.

"I'm ashamed to call myself a hunter…that wasn't even a challenge!" Rouge exclaimed, despite the fact it was actually one of her more intense hunts. She glanced longingly at her most recent find, becoming lost in its shimmer. Suddenly, Rouge blinked and hid it away.

"That echidna will be around soon…" she trailed. However, she was slightly smirking. Either because she'd end up with the whole Master Emerald if she swiped them from Knuckles, or just because she wanted to see Knuckles. Whatever she was thinking, Rouge suddenly bolted off, all too eager to meet up with Knuckles wherever he was.

Good thing the emeralds she had were attracted to the ones _he_ collected…

. . .

"What's Rouge up to anyway…" Dr. Eggman grumbled to himself from inside the pyramid base, watching Sonic, Tails and Amy on a screen of his own. Glancing at said screen once again, a schematic of the Space Colony ARK came up.

"Well this is strange…it's showing energy readings from two different Chaos Emeralds! Did they really think they could trick me with that fake Emerald?"

Shadow, who had been standing behind the doctor and silently listening (or ignoring) him, turned and went to head back up to the ARK. Eggman, however, cast out his long arm, signaling Shadow to stop.

"Wait. Shadow, I'm the one who should be telling them the end is near, not you. Now is the time to end this long, drawn-out battle…and mark myself in history as the ultimate genius!" He loaded himself up into his Egg Walker, preparing to leave but not before turning around the Shadow and saying, "If something happens to me, I'm counting on you to finish the job. Hurry! The moment for attack has come! It's now or never!"

He slipped his goggles over his glasses (apparently for extra protection purposes) and stepped his machine, and himself, into the teleporter.


	14. ARKing up the Wrong Places

Live and Learn

Chapter 13: ARK-ing Up the Wrong Places

**Outside Space Colony ARK-**  
**Cannon Countdown: 1 hour 26 minutes**

"This is all Sonic's fault!" Knuckles growled angrily, exploring the outer area of the Space Colony ARK where the Master Emerald pieces were strewn (and also where Rouge secretly was). "The hatch busted open, the Emeralds fell out, he says-" he changed to a high pitched voice. "-Oh! No sweat! They're only pieces of the Master Emerald that can't mean _anything_ to Knuckles at all!"

He punched a nearby space rock- it was space dust within seconds later. Knuckles softened up the tiniest bit.

"Well…I guess taking control of the ship didn't work as planned either…"

But he wasn't going to admit that to Sonic.

"Anyway…I've finally got the emeralds! Not too bad!"

Now with the final piece in the area claimed, Knuckles now knew what it was time to do- confront Rouge and get the rest of his emerald back. But, where was she? She could've been anywhere, and it was highly unlikely that Rouge was even anywhere remotely close-

And then, out of nowhere, Rouge swooped in. She had been watching Knuckles from one of the station's towers, waiting for the right moment to strike. She was here for the same reason as Knuckles- to get the other half of the Master Emerald. Knuckles nearly stumbled at her sudden presence, but regained his composure quite quickly and struck a battle stance.

"Long time no see treasure hunter," she began, a bit flirtatiously. "Did you find MY emeralds?"

Knuckles barked out a fake laugh. "Ha! That's a good one, "YOUR emeralds". Talking to you is a waste of time."

"Very well. If that's how you want to play, I will take them from you!"

"Hand over those Master Emeralds- give them to me!"

Knuckles dove at Rouge with a massive fist, Rouge easily sidestepping and countering by kicking Knuckles down.

"Over my dead body."

"Well that can be arranged!"

Rouge barely had a moment to widen her eyes as Knuckles gave her a nasty uppercut, sending her flying several feet into the air. She cried out, landing hard on a beam above. As she tried to regain herself, Knuckles climbed up and jumped right beside her, preparing to kick her in the side. Rouge grabbed his foot and pushed him backward, making him lose his balance and slide off.

"Hmph, take that!" she hissed.

"Nah, I'll just give it back!"

"Huh-"

Knuckles had cleverly saved himself by latching into the side of the beam, but now he swung himself up and kicked Rouge and sent her flying once again.

"Unh…"

"Had enough?" Knuckles grunted as he approached, cracking his namesakes. "All you have to do is hand over what's rightfully mine. You haven't seen what I do to people who take my stuff!"

He then cringed as he recalled how he thought Sonic and tails had took his Emerald (more than once) and did some devastating damage. It was all made worse when it turned out they didn't after all…

Sensing a temporary moment of weakness, Rouge performed a sweep kick on Knuckles and effectively swept him off his feet. He went rolling along the beam, ending up sprawled out across it. Knuckles' eyes flickered, but his vision was clear enough to see Rouge use her drill spin move on him.

"No! Not the face!"

Rouge at least listened to his wishes- Knuckles instead received a harsh kick to the stomach. Literally having the wind knocked out of him, Knuckles instantly sat up with a "poomph!"…and in return was punch in the snout.

"Augh!"

"Had enough?" Rouge snickered, mocking Knuckles' tough guy voice. "All you have to do is hand over what's rightfully mine!"

"I do not sound like that- I mean, er, SHUT UP!"

Rouge continued to laugh lightly as Knuckles stood back up.

"I have no choice but to fight now!"

"Oh, so that wasn't fighting before?"

Knuckles swatted hopelessly at Rouge, who acted like she wasn't taking this fight seriously. The very second Knuckles stopped his pathetic attempt to hit Rouge, she gave him a kick that was probably the equivalent to any uppercut Knuckles could dish out. As Knuckles skyrocketed, he grabbed his jaw and murmured, "MAN that woman has a mean kick on her."

Rouge gave a wink and a wave. Knuckles stuck out his tongue.

"Now where did she go…" Knuckles mused to himself, now that his rival had mysteriously vanished. He cautiously jumped to a lower beam, ready for anything.

Apparently he wasn't ready to be kneed in the head, because that's exactly what Rouge did to him. He fell forward, luckily gliding back to safety after catch sight of the pit of lava at the bottom- the floor had opened up!

"Now you've mad me mad!" she huffed. Knuckles jaw dropped due to being completely dumbstruck.

"What did I do?"

"Besides uppercut me into the sky, you didn't wave back to me- you stuck your tongue out at me!"

Knuckles was still appalled. "How old are you?"

"Do you not have any manners on how to treat a lady?"

"I have manners- just none that deserve to be wasted on you!"

Rouge kicked Knuckles square in the head, knocking him over the edge once more. The echidna grunted and gripped the edge once again, but this time, Rouge jabbed her heel onto his hand.

"Yargh! OW!"

Knuckles let go so fast, not only did it send him dropping instantly, but it also managed to flip Rouge over! Rouge collided with a nearby wall, but thank goodness for her it also stopped her from falling too. Her legs were wobbling from the intensity of the moment. Rouge blinked and gazed fearfully over the edge.

"Oh no…he fell…and he still had the emerald pieces with him!" she got down on her knees and stared into the lava, as if expecting Knuckles to just pop out or something. "Still…talk about a cruddy way to go out…"

While she gazed downward, Rouge didn't notice Knuckles silently glide up behind her.

"Now witness my power- take this!"

"Wha-"

Rouge felt like she was being zapped by lightning with that punch! She skidded along the beam, yet still miraculously refrained from falling off. Knuckles stood in all his glory, even daring to give a sideways smile.

"You underestimate me, Bat Girl."

Rouge stomped her foot, furious that she left herself open to be target, then spun around.

"There's not much to underestimate…get ready!"

"Get ready for- WHOA!"

Knuckles was blasted into the air by Rouge's mysterious move, which was a spherical wave of shadow. He started peculiarly at where it was, pondering more about the fact about how Rouge was even able to do that, but then again, how was he able to create lightning?

"You know I mean business! I'll be taking those Master Emerald shards now!" Rouge exclaimed, somewhat maliciously. Knuckles raised an eyebrow but stood strong anyway.

"I must protect the Master Emerald!"

They threw themselves at each other, Rouge kicking furiously with knuckles blocking at the same rapid pace. He grabbed her and shoved her back- she spun around and sent him flying. He flipped back up and aimed for the stomach, she punched him in the face. Knuckles staggered back, but not before giving Rouge a kick of her own.

"Uh, wow."

"Taste of your own medicine, eh?" sneered Knuckles. Rouge clenched her fists and bared her fangs.

"I wouldn't be talking!"

"Ooh, scary, with the fangs. I can do that too!" Knuckles growled, also showing off his canine teeth and snarling. "Now get away from my Emeralds!"

Highly insulted, Rouge charged at Knuckles, Knuckles quickly doing the same. They crashed into each other, one receiving a blow dealt by the other, before landing harshly on opposite side of the center beam. Both of them skidded against the metal, both receiving scars and bruises from that most likely. Knuckles was quicker to get up, but Rouge was faster to compose herself. Both, however, were huffing out of exhaustion and glaring daggers.

"Stop fooling around, and give me back MY Emeralds!" they both yelled.

"What are you babbling about?" Rouge snapped sharply. "You call yourself a hunter? Attacking a lady…shame on you!"

"What kind of lady goes around stealin' gems anyway?" Knuckles shot right back.

"Those belong to me!" Rouge continued to insist, running toward Knuckles once again. However, her foot was partially off the beam, causing her to slip and fall toward the lava pit below. "Waaaahhh!"

Time seemed to stop for Rouge. A thousand thoughts rushed in her head, yet they were going by so fast, she could tell one from the other. She closed her eyes, hoping to make the drop more bearable. A picture of the Master Emerald flashed in her mind, then Knuckles.

_"…I don't know what to think right now…"_ she sighed within her mind.

As she braced herself for a fiery death, Rouge suddenly realized that she wasn't falling. Daring to glance up, she saw Knuckles dangling from the edge by one muscular hand, the other gripping hers as her lifeline.

"What in the world?"

"I…I've got'cha…"

Knuckles helped Rouge back up to the beam, and for a few moment they were left standing, gazing at each other…until Rouge realized he was holding her hand and swiped it away.

"Keep your hands to yourself!" she scolded. "Don't touch me!"

Knuckles folded his arms to prevent any more punches. "Is that how you say thanks to someone who just saved your life?"

Rouge bent down a little and stuck up her nose. "Hmph. "Saving my life". Don't think I owe you one! You just wanted to hold my hand! That's why you "saved" me! Or you were trying to be fresh…"

"What do you mean "fresh"? Talk about ungrateful!"

Rouge smiled in her flirtatious way and folded her arms too. "You're such a creep!"

Knuckles' eyes twitched at the lack of a response, but he quickly shook it off and shook his fist instead. "This isn't a joke, you know. Think what you want, Bat Girl. I was saving the Master Emerald!"

Still, Rouge softened up the slightest bit at Knuckles' tone- somewhere, just beneath the tough exterior, Knuckles was somewhat hurt.

Rouge sighed. "No matter what you say, it still sounds crazy." _That you saved me._

She cast her hand out, apparently tossing her well-collected Master Emerald pieces at Knuckles. They landed with a clash on the floor, Knuckles staring awestruck at them.

"What?"

"Fine. Then just take them."

That way she said it actually sounded…normal. Knuckles took note of that- no hatred, no flirtatiousness, no anything. Just a plain old how Rouge would casually talk. Wow, what a development!

"They stink like echidnas do."

Nevermind. Knuckles bent down and started adding Rouge's pieces to his own.

"If that's what you thought, you should have given them to me in the first place!"

Rouge watched with somewhat interest as Knuckles magically fused the pieces back together, forming the once grand Master Emerald in all its splendor. She was slightly amused as to how Knuckles hugged it while he was "checking it over".

"Finally," he groaned, more in relief than in exhaustion. Knuckles glanced up to Rouge staring, the latter quickly turning away and stubbornly saying, "What?"

Knuckles gulped, then picked up the emerald. "I'm sorry…if I hurt you."

As at a speed that would make Sonic at least clap his hands, Knuckles bolted. Rouge stood, phased, not saying anything to Knuckles. Not that she could, anyway. Thinking about the impending doom headed toward the planet, Rouge looked up toward the ceiling.

"We should get going…" Rouge trailed softly, folding her arms. She started running off in the opposite direction as Knuckles, but not before stopping to genuinely smile over her shoulder.

**ARK Research Lab-**  
**Cannon Countdown: 45 minutes**

"Darn! Why do they always have to leave a sweet, little, innocent girl like me alone?" Amy asked herself.

"Well, well, young lady…is there something I can help you with?"

Amy gasped and whirled around to the voice referring to her. Eggman was in his walker with a huge gun pointed at her. She let out a high pitched shriek. "Dr. Eggman!"

"If you value your life, you will tell me where Sonic and Tails are!" he said in a low, malicious tone. He had made his way through the entire ARK just about, and had found hide nor hair of Sonic or Tails. But now that he had Amy…hm hm hm, that made things a lot more easier!

However, Amy didn't need to say anything because Tails by far chose the wrong time to bust in…

"Uh, this is a bad time, huh-"

"Tails!" Eggman seethed, aiming the gun at him now. Amy screaming, catching attention of Tails.

"Amy? What happened?"

"Eggman's holding me hostage!"

"You look pretty fine to me-"

Eggman returned the gun's aim toward Amy. She whimpered and ducked her head down while Tails instantly went to call Sonic.

**Inside Space Colony ARK-**  
**Cannon countdown: 33 minutes**

Sonic was walking into the cannon control room, listening to Tails give him precise instructions.

"Ok Sonic! Now put that Emerald…"

He was suddenly cut off.

"Tails?"

A gruff voice suddenly replaced Tails'. "Tails, tell Sonic to meet you at the back of the research facility, now!"

Tails shut that voice off and tried to talk again, but was cut off once more. "Sonic, Amy is-"

"I-I didn't get that Tails! What's happened to Amy? Tails!"

The communication device went dead, causing Sonic to squeeze it with frustration before bolting to find Eggman.

"Hahahahaha!" he heard the mad doctor's voice echo through the ARK. "You'd better come here, if you want to save her life!"

"I don't know who to be mad at!" Sonic grunted to himself, now tearing down the glowing, futuristic halls of the ARK. "Eggman for taking Amy, Amy for just getting caught, Tails for leaving Amy behind, or me for also being a bit of a jerk and leaving her behind…"

Hm. He'd go with Eggman. Pushing his contemplating thoughts aside, Sonic jumped up, grabbed a red pipe, and slid down an entire hallway. Might as well make the most of this trip.

"All right, better focus…this place can have anything…"

Sonic entered a mega-futuristic-looking room with a blue blob creature dominating over everything, even daring to try and strike Sonic with one of its tentacles. Sonic was obviously fast enough to sidestep out of the way, but he also accidentally tumbled into a large red switch. Apparently this switch reversed gravity, because Sonic was now walking on the ceiling.

"…cool!"

He curled up into a ball and rolled down the length of the ceiling, ;luckily helping him avoid the eye-lasers shot by another blue creature. Sonic uncurled, jumped up, kicking it in the head, and carried on. Right behind the creature was another red switch, which Sonic figured reversed the gravity back to normal again.

"This place is kinda sweet…"

Sonic took interest in the neon green wall, slight zero gravity, and all the gadgets lined about. Of course, it wasn't exactly the easiest place to get a straight-up, breeze-through, high-speed run, but it was interesting all the same!

He grabbed into a series of hooking, taking him to a higher level of the ARK. Nothing was in this particular area except a suspicious looking glass covering. And what was the glass covering? Nothing. Sonic gave it a simple knock before flat-out punching and shattering it. He poked his head it…and was instantly sucked upwards in a tube. It did two loops, took a nose-dive, and a somewhat sharp turn upwards. Sonic popped out the other side of the tube, which by the looks of it was completely on the other side of the ARK.

"Now that is the way to get from room to room…"

He hit a near-by gravity switch (no pun intended) and returned to the ceiling, now racing overhead. Sonic was easily able to avoid a pit of acid below (which he almost thought was going to fall on him when he realized it would be more likely that he would fall into it) and grind a red pipe, which was doubly awesome since he was upside down.

"What do we have here?"

The pipe lead to yet another room, this time with three switches to change the direction of gravity either back to normal, to the left, or to the right. He chose the right, gravity shifting to the right wall now. Sonic ran down the side of that wall without having to build up momentum, then grinded down via another pipe. Sonic ended up in yet another room, this one with another pole overhead. He grabbed onto it and used it to slide down, just like previously.

"Sonic! What are you doing? There's no time for games!"

Sonic rolled his eyes at Eggman's latest outburst- if he hadn't chosen the farthest possible place to meet him, he'd be there already! Nevertheless, Sonic jumped into another transport tube and ventured to another section of the abandoned Space Colony.

"Woo hoo! I have got to say, these things are fun!"

"Emergency. Emergency-" the warning sign broke off was replaced with Eggman's. "Well done, Sonic, but you'll never get out of this room alive!"

Sonic exited the tube and bulged his eyes out. This room was impressive…and he had the feeling gravity was extremely twisted in here. He was also praying it was the last room before he reached Eggman- Amy, and somewhat Tails, were in danger!

"All right, let's do this."

Gravity shifted, he was walking on a purple platform. It shifted again and he was on a green one.

"Whee. How exciting. Oh well- that just means it's easy!"

Sonic kicked another switch, allowing himself to be moved to a yellow platform, followed by a blue one.

"You're too slow- she WILL die!"

"Eggman!"

Now suddenly furious, Sonic curled up into his ball form and started charging up an excessive amount of light.

"Ready…GO!"

Like a pinball Sonic shot from place to place, literally nothing but a blue blur.

"Darn it Eggman…this whole wide ride has my mind so confused…I have no idea what's going on and you keep throwing more problems to deal with at me! You may be evil, but seriously…this is getting to be too much to handle."

He landed in front of missile aimed right for a green glass wall. Sonic activated it, shattered the wall, and located the entry to the research facility. As Sonic headed over, something suddenly stuck out in the back of his mind.

Whatever happened to Shadow?

. . .

Eggman, Amy, and Tails all turned to the door when Sonic opened it, the hedgehog bearing a snaky smirk on his face. Eggman remained emotionless and kept his gun's target on Amy.

"Let's take care of business first, shall we Sonic?" he asked, almost too politely. "Hand over the Chaos Emerald, slowly, and then we'll talk about your girlfriend…that is, if you really care for her."

Sonic maintained his smile as he pulled out the Chaos Emerald, thinking secretly to himself. _"Handing over the fake Emerald, I can kill two birds with one stone!"_

He gave a quick glance to Tails, who returned with an even quicker nod.

"Put the Emerald down right there and back off!" Eggman ordered. Sonic shrugged and walked forward.

"You've turned into a big time villain, Doctor!"

Eggman ignored the comment, staring intently at the destined spot for the Chaos Emerald.

Within seconds later, Sonic was trapped in a containment chamber.

"Whoa! ?"

Eggman was ecstatic at this moment, but he did his best to conceal it. "You thought that you could trick me with that fake Emerald, didn't you?"

Tails' eyes showed thoroughly that he was shocked. "So…how'd you know it wasn't the real one?"

"TAILS!" Sonic snapped, slightly sharper than intended. Eggman just gave a low chuckle.

"Because you just told me, Fox Boy!"

"…"

"Now, for a little space ride! Capsule clears for the colony. BAM!"

"S-Sonic!" Tails cried. Sonic just folded his arms and smiled.

"Hey. It's okay. You're in charge pal, all right? I'm counting on you Tails. And Amy, take care of yourself."

Both of them were on the verge of tears, but Sonic stood strong and confident, even though he literally was about to meet his doom. He gave them one last thumbs up before Eggman prepared the final notion.

"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

With one firm press of a button, Sonic the Hedgehog was sent spiraling into space, Amy rushing to the window and crying out, "Sonic!" despite the fact nothing could be done.

The capsule detonated in a huge red explosion, Sonic the Hedgehog along with it. Tails remained frozen while Amy literally threw herself against the window.

"Farewell, Sonic…my admirable adversary…"

Amy shook her head, tears falling left and right.

"Sonic…he's gone…"

. . .

Shadow casually glanced outside of the window of the ARK, seeing the capsule blow up like a firework.

"I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all…"


	15. Out of the Darkness

Live and Learn

Chapter 14: Out of the Darkness

_It has the same wavelengths and properties, but is less powerful than the real one._

_"The same wavelengths and properties…but…can I really do this?"_

. . .

_"I won't let you down Sonic…I won't give him what he wants!"_

Eggman whirled around, gun held tightly in hand again. He had no more use for Amy, but someone else still needed to be put out of the picture.

"Now, we have some unfinished business to take care of!" he now pointed his weapon at Tails. "If you give me the real Chaos Emerald, I'll let you both go."

_"I'll be strong…I won't let myself run away this time!"_

"You have my promise!"

Tails just shook his head. Eggman was genuinely confused until Tails spoke up. "Sonic has asked me for the first time to do something for him. I won't let him down! I won't give up!"

"You've tried my patience for far too long. You asked for it!"

Amy growled and held out her hammer, but Tails stepped in front of her.

"Amy, stay out of the way. This is my battle."

Eggman instantly started rapid fire, but Tails swiftly moved out of the way and edged closer to Eggman.

"You see what you've done to Sonic…"

"Of course I see you little pest! And you'll be going down that road too once I'm finished with you!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Tails practically hissed, sending out a rather large photon beam to phase the doctor. Eggman grunted and stumbled back, seeing rage literally build in Tails' eyes.

"All Sonic ever did was help people…he wanted nothing but for everyone to be free. He didn't deserve to die by the likes of you, that's for sure! Burning places down, building machines to hurt people, trying to be a dictator…you make me sick!"

Eggman surprisingly didn't attack back, but instead narrowed his eyes. "You think Sonic was such a hero, going around and making people happy…riddle me this, Tails, what would you say to your hero crushing people's dreams, hm?"

"Sonic has never crushed anyone dreams- if anything he'd help them come true!" Tails snapped back.

"Wrong! He's gotten in the way of mine too many times to count! I've had to grow up with people turning down my genius ideas and by the time I'm finally able to make them a reality, they get torn, beaten, kicked, spin dashed, and mocked all to pieces by a blue hedgehog! Would you enjoy building that puny airplane of yours over and over again, making it more beneficial than the previous time only for it to be destroyed?"

Tails cried out and shot Eggman's machine again. While Eggman attempted to repair the damage, Tails started screaming.

"Yours dreams were to have everyone bow down to you and do your bidding. Sonic stops you because you get in the way of his own dream, of everyone being free. _And you killed him!" _Tails caused more rapid fire, Eggman dancing around to avoid being hit and failing miserably. "Well guess what? Just because he's gone doesn't mean you'll get away with it! Because _I'm_ still here!"

"You're still grieving over him- you don't know what you're saying," Eggman seethed through gritted teeth, striking Tails' walker with a massive blast. Tails sprung over it though and counter attacked. "Grr…you'll pay for that! Take this!"

Eggman sent heat-seeking missile toward Tails, but the fox just turned around and blasted them down. While Eggman was stunned from the shock, Tails whirled around and pressed two buttons.

"I'll show you how powerful I really am!"

The next thing Eggman knew, a rainbow-white beam was blasted full force at him, draining most of his power in just one hit!

"There's no way I'm going to lose!"

Another round of shots were directed at the enemy walker, and that's all that was needed to take him down. Eggman attempted to get his machine to move, but it was completely and utterly dead. Tails walked up to Eggman who was grumbling something about "I can't lose to Tails…" on the floor.

Somewhat sadly, Tails stated, "I did it…"

**Outside Space Colony ARK**  
**Cannon Countdown: 21 Minutes 7 Seconds-**

"I feel some strange energy…" Knuckles, now with the Master Emerald under his high protection. Maybe it was just the Master Emerald itself leading him to that direct spot, or pure coincidence, but a very bright light suddenly emerged out of nothing…

And Sonic the Hedgehog materialized within it.

As he crashed to the floor, slightly withering in pain, Knuckles set down the Master Emerald and ran over.

"Sonic!" He kneeled by his side and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey…are you all right?"

"I'm okay…I wasn't sure…if I could pull that one off…" Sonic said, voice a tad broken. He was gripping his left arm, only because that was what hurt the most. He attempted to sit up, despite wavering all over the place. Knuckles held him up as he continued to explain. "Somehow I managed to use the Chaos Control…"

"Chaos Control?" Knuckles asked, aware that Sonic once again knew something about Chaos Emeralds that he didn't. In Sonic's attempt to stand up, he fell again, with Knuckles catching him quickly. Using Chaos Control for the first time under that much pressure took a toll on him. Knuckles blinked.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I-I'm worried about Tails and Amy…I'd hate to ask, but could you help them? This is our last chance!" Sonic regained his strength and even took a few steps away from Knuckles. He held out the fake Chaos Emerald and slightly grinned. "I got it…before the cannon fires, I'll slam dunk it in there!"

Sonic rushed off- all Knuckles could do was reach a hand out in a weak attempt to stop him.

**ARK: Central Area-**

"Legend has it when all seven Emeralds are collected, the power creates a miracle! I have six of them! They're mine! All mine!" Rouge squealed happily to herself as she headed over to snag them.

"I. Don't. Think. So. "

Rouge froze. "Shadow?"

"So that was your plan from the very beginning?" he asked, strolling up and holding a hand out as if to help make his point. "…or was it a direct order from the PRESIDENT? Now I know who you are…you're that government spy, Rouge the Bat, aren't you? I suggest you keep your hands off those Chaos Emeralds…"

Despite the fact that she shouldn't be threatened because she had already told Shadow her name and he just now figured that out, Rouge knew she was in deep trouble now that her cover was blown. However, she maintained her flirtatious smirk and winked at Shadow.

"So you did your homework, is that it? I would say that's an invasion of privacy!"

"I can say the same thing about you."

"Hmmm. Looks like things aren't quite going your way, but since my job was done, I thought it was time to take what's mine and get out of this place."

"You are one pathetic creature!"

Rouge felt like she had the upper hand now. "Hmm, look who's talking. What about you?"

Shadow turned away, but Rouge jumped down and glided up next to him.

"Here are the results of the research project called the ultimate life form. But, if this picture is of the real ultimate life form named Shadow…then who or what exactly is standing in front of me?"

Shadow just stood there and said nothing, although he didn't have to as Eggman called him up. "This is Dr. Eggman- I mean, Robotnik! Darn it Sonic…ahem, anyways, I have found all seven Chaos Emeralds! Shadow, someone is trying to get to the Eclipse Cannon. There's not much time left before the cannon fire again. Can you get over there?"

"If you want to live, leave the Chaos Emeralds where they are," Shadow threatened Rouge before taking off. "The fake Emerald is good enough for you."

"Do you actually believe you are the real Shadow?" Rouge questioned, trying to bring him back to her previous question.

"No. Doubt."

"Even your memories might not be real, you know…"

Shadow didn't show it, but that one definitely struck hard. However, he softened up the tiniest bit. "Even if my memories are not real, they are all that I have…and even so, it's still me, Shadow…And I will fulfill my promise to Maria, that's the only thing that matters to me now."


	16. Race to the End

Live and Learn

Chapter 15: Race to the End

"Isn't this a way to go…" Sonic mumbled to himself, hanging on tightly to a rocket. He quickly let go and landed on a grind rail, on the way to the tip of the Eclipse Cannon. Time was running out fast, and Sonic could only hope that he truly was faster.

…But man, once again, this was one of those times where he just wanted to do this for fun! The entire place was a plethora of rails just waiting to be grinded on. The rush of grinding was a very good alternative for when you were unable to run.

So Sonic just sort of let himself relax and grind, occasionally ending up on platforms, winding up on boost pads and blasting off onto another rail.

. . .

Meanwhile, on the other side of the final chase rush (whatever), Shadow was also making his way toward the Eclipse Cannon, however, he knew he was following someone. Who in their right mind would be headed for the Eclipse Cannon? That blue hedgehog was dead in Shadow's mind, the doctor had taken care of Tails since he managed to get the Emerald (Shadow didn't know Eggman lost), and he also knew that Rouge had confronted Knuckles, and Knuckles was probably on his way home.

…so who else could it have been?

. . .

"I can safely say there is nothing better than grinding on a rail above the entire planet! Except for running," Sonic mused contently to himself. He was having double fun jumping off on one rail and landing on a lower one. Highly dangerous, but you didn't care about little things like that when you ran on adrenalin.

"It really is like a colony here though…" Sonic observed, pondering over the building-like structures hanging around. They almost seemed like apartments, but how many people really did live here? And how do you build something in space anyway? Sonic would have to ask Tails.

. . .

A few meteors were floating in Shadow's way, but a quick Chaos Snap blew them up almost instantly. Not a challenge…

"I've got to get to the Eclipse Cannon! I promised Maria revenge!" Shadow scowled as he grinded his own way through the menagerie. His path wasn't as rail-infested as Sonic, but it sure did have a lot of "anti-gravity pillars".

"Hmph, who was Rouge to tell me that my memories are not real…" he grumbled to himself, voicing his thoughts. That was too much to contemplate right there. Sure, they may be artificial because he was artificial, or they were artificially created or something…and if that was true, was there no Maria?

He nearly stopped in his tracks. Of course there was a Maria. Once a long, long time ago, but there was no way a girl like Maria couldn't exist once in a lifetime. Shadow was lucky enough to even have met her…but also unlucky enough to watch her go. Shadow clenched his fist as his youngest memory of her replayed itself once again in his mind.

"Revenge!" he roared, Chaos Spearing a robot that really wasn't doing anything in general. Let THAT feel his wrath…

. . .

"Please let Knuckles have Tails and Amy safe…" Sonic prayed to himself. Oh man, how upset they looked! It was all _Sonic_ could do to not break down and cry, and that was saying something since he wasn't much of a crier. How did they take his "death"? "And I'm almost afraid to show my face again if they were scared stiff…"

He made contact with a spring, sending him flying upwards and onto a previously unreachable ledge. Just after that was a grind rail longer than before. Sonic tore through several loops, briefly reminding him of how Tails used to fly through black and green ones to gain speed.

"Hmm…I wonder if the people who used to inhabit this place used all these rails…"

Sonic jumped from one rail to another followed by jetting down a road of sorts, with the option to take two different grind rails as well. He choose the "most radical" one and had a field day being tossed to and fro and upside down.

. . .

Shadow, now grumpy and back to being his "Mr. Unsmiley" self, instantly did a double take as a streak of blue flew on a grind rail above his head.

"He's still alive?"

Sonic free-fell onto the next grind rail and jetted down that one. Shadow, instead of scowling darkly, put on an amused look and continued to follow his look-alike.

"Well, what do you know? I can't wait to figure out how he pulled off such a miracle…"

Sonic laughed as he did a stylish midair trick and landing perfectly, bolting off on his own two feet once again. Shadow mused to himself quietly before grunting:

"That Faker has a lot of explaining to do…and he's making this too easy for me…"

**Outside Space Colony ARK**  
**Cannon Countdown: 5 Minutes 44 Seconds -**

"Sigh…I barely made it…"

Sonic stood, staring at the road ahead of him, leading to the Eclipse Cannon. However, when a dark voice suddenly referred to him, it made his heart nearly stop.

"You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog." Sonic turned to Shadow, who was casually strolling up. "I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space. I could've sworn you were blown to bits a short time ago. "

Sonic shrugged. "You know, what can I say? I die hard." he started walking with Shadow, and it was almost like they were friendly rivals rather than mortal enemies. Sonic even dared to pull out the fake Chaos Emerald and waved it around. "You actually saved me, you know."

"It WAS a Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? But…there's no way you could've activated the Chaos Control using an Emerald that's fake!" Shadow exclaimed, genuinely impressed/shocked/trying to prove Sonic wrong because Shadow and only Shadow should be able to use Chaos Control (in Shadow's opinion).

The both suddenly picked up speed, both of them subconsciously knowing that they were BOTH headed for the Eclipse Cannon, yet the casual conversation lasted a little longer.

"So there's more to you that just looking like me. What are you, anyway?"

"What you see is what you get- Just a guy that loves adventure! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"I see, but you know I can't let you live." Shadow changed from a light jog to air skating while Sonic increased his running speed. Now things were getting intense. "Your adventuring days are coming to an end!"

"All right Shadow…time for me to finish this!

"Before this is over…I'll show you the true power of Chaos Control!"

Shadow suddenly disappeared, then reappeared behind Sonic and kicked him in the head. The super-sonic hedgehog stumbled while running, but luckily didn't trip. Shadow snickered evilly while rocketing by Sonic, leaving him in the dust.

"I will reach the Eclipse Cannon first, Faker!"

Sonic stopped, then within the same move curled into a ball and started charging light for a long time. Shadow had even dared to think he had given up-

"Ready? GO!"

"What the-"

Next thing Shadow knew, Sonic was all over him. He'd move in one direction- POW in the face! Try to duck- spin dashed in the stomach anyhow! Shadow kept trying to skate away from the onslaught but Sonic was clearly too quick.

"Grr…This is the ultimate! Time to put this to rest! Chaos Spear!"

A thousand chaos energy arrows sparked from Shadow's fingertips, slamming into Sonic and personally telling him to back off. He went spiraling backward, which was also assisted by a nasty backhand from Shadow.

Grunting on the ground, Sonic recovered to his feet and charged at Shadow.

"I'm not finished with you, yet! Sonic Wind!"

Shadow scoffed until Sonic became one with the wind as a blue blur of motion, circling Shadow like a whirlwind. The ebony hedgehog received several kicks and uppercuts during this move too. Sonic delivered a final spin dash to send Shadow to the ground before using this chance to be the one to bolt.

Shadow gave a nasty snarl, fangs protruding greatly.

"So that's how you want to play, huh Look-a-Like? It will be an honor to kill you!"

"I'll use the Chaos Control!"

Sonic glanced over his shoulder to give Shadow a cocky smirk as he held out his fake Emerald and disappeared in a green flash. Stunned, shocked, and surprised, Shadow was on the verge of going nuts with Chaos Spear until he thought about _where_ Sonic was teleporting.

Shadow ducked and Sonic went flying over his head. He shook his head pitifully.

"Let me show you how it's done…and I don't even need a Chaos Emerald! Chaos Control!"

Sonic yelped and rolled out of the way as Shadow prepared to landed on him, foot extended. The fastest thing alive quickly darted away, Shadow following right on his heels.

"What's the matter?" Shadow asked maliciously. "Afraid you won't be able to save your pathetic planet from being blown into bits? Every last one of those selfish humans will _die!"_

Sonic slightly recoiled at Shadow's sudden nasty outlook, but maintained his cool. "Of course not! I'm the fastest thing alive! I'll make it no problem!"

"There's less than 5 minutes left until that cannon blows the world all over the universe! You can't even _get_ there in time, let alone stop the cannon!" Shadow continued to hiss venomously. "They'll all pay for taking Maria away from me. This was her last wish, and that is what I'm going to fulfill, and I won't let a scrub like you stand in my way!"

Before Sonic could even retort to that incredulous statement, Shadow struck him with another round of Chaos Spears.

"I told you I'm the Ultimate!"

Sonic received several markings from that attack, but carried on nevertheless. He glanced at Shadow while still struggling to keep running.

"And I won't let you destroy the world just because of one little thing! There are innocent people on that planet, ones that weren't even around 50 years ago when your Maria was killed! You can't possibly blame _all_ of them for what happened! I'm going to stop you because those people deserve to live, and they deserve to be happy!"

Shadow seemed to lose focus after hearing that, giving Sonic the perfect chance to strike with a spin dash. Shadow went falling to the ground, snapping out of it and snarling once again. He chucked more spears at Sonic who dodged all but a few easily, yet the cuts he'd taken wouldn't slow him down.

"Well guess what, Sonic? The stars don't twinkle, and the moon doesn't shine!"

He kicked Sonic harshly, stopping their run in its tracks. Sonic coughed and sputtered on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Shadow walked up to his side, eyes set ablaze.

"Thanks for the life lesson, Shadow. Did you know birds don't sing either?"

"Hmph…" Shadow's hand suddenly started glowing. "I guess the wind doesn't blow either."

Shadow then suddenly grinned.

"At least, not to the perfect existence…which is me, and only me! You'll see I'm right…"

Sonic had taken his split second to speak to curl up and use his light attack on Shadow again. The several hits and strikes against Shadow were just about too much for the ultimate life form to take.

"Guess what, Shadow?" Sonic retorted, using a mock tone. "Something tells me you struggle against despair-"

Shadow seethed like a bull and plowed a fist straight into Sonic's stomach before running off. Sonic heaved a breath once again before curling back up and zooming after his opponent.

"I mean it, Shadow. You won't get away with this."

Shadow wasn't going to show that he was growing weaker by the second, but boy, was he ever lagging! He attempted to turn around and spear Sonic once last time, but the blasted hedgehog had caught up with him and started pummeling him rapidly with spin dashes.

"Impossible…I am the Ultimate Life…" Shadow trailed in a hoarse whisper as he suddenly fell to the ground. Sonic was panting as heavily as he was, but he still had enough strength and willpower to forge on.

"Game over Shadow…" Sonic murmured, taking off for the cannon in what little time he had left.

**ARK Abandoned Lab**  
**Cannon Countdown: 1 minute 33 seconds-**

Eggman lay helpless in the middle of the floor, panting away. Amy was still sulking on the floor while Tails maintained a pose of victory and pulled out a recording machine.

"Sonic…I did it…" Tails meekly said into it before letting it hang by his side as he and Amy continued to mourn. Suddenly, there was a beeping sound, and Tails pulled out his communication device. To both Amy and Tails' complete shock, Sonic's voice came out the other end.

_"Awesome job, Tails!"_

"SONIC!"

Tails was so excited that he didn't even notice Eggman snagged the real seventh Chaos Emerald that had fallen out of the Tornado 2 and onto the floor. Tails excitedly hopped up and down while Amy perked up like a flower.

"Huh?"

"_Look outside!"_ Sonic exclaimed again.

Wasting no time, both Tails and Amy glanced out the window. The Eclipse Cannon was starting to charge up! However, it blew up upon itself right as it was destined to fire thanks to a certain fake Chaos Emerald.

Just on the outside was Sonic himself, in the living flesh, giving a thumbs up.

**ARK Central Control Room**  
**Cannon Countdown: 40 seconds previously-**

"Hahahahaha! This completes my plans to take over the world!" Eggman cackled to himself, walking over to the Chaos Emerald panels with the Emerald he had obtained. "Now begins the glorious era of the Empire of Eggman!"

He placed his Chaos Emerald in the final slot, charging up the cannon instantly. Now all he had to do was wait, and the world would be his for the taking!

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Except, there was only one problem-

There light were flashing an intense shade of red and the computer screen was screaming: "WARNING".

Something was obviously wrong.

"Erg? What the…what's going on? Why doesn't the cannon fire?" Eggman jaunted over to the super computer and started punching things in. "What…what's happening here?"

All of a sudden, an elderly figure tied to a chair popped up on screen. Eggman widened his eyes.

"It's…my grandfather…Gerald Robotnik!"


	17. Throw It All Away

Live and Learn

Chapter 16: Throw it All Away

_"This is a death sentence for every human being on Earth. My final revenge has begun!"_ the old, raspy voice echoed all across the world, appearing on every screen in every city. _"If my calculations are correct, the Space Colony ARK will impact the planet in 27 minutes, 53 seconds. You have absolutely no way of escaping and no hope for survival! All of you will be destroyed along with your beloved planet…"_

_. . ._

Sonic and Knuckles (meeting up with the hedgehog after getting lost in the halls) ran into the room where Sonic had been separated from Tails and Amy. However, the moment they entered, the entire ARK was shaking!

"What's that…that vibration?" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Hey wait…someone is coming!" replied Sonic, remaining calm (and still) unlike Knuckles. As if on cue, Rouge the Bat jumped out of nowhere and struck a pose- one that said she wasn't expecting to see Knuckles again so soon.

"You! You haven't given up yet!" Knuckles barked, ready to go on another rampage. Rouge ignored Knuckles and sadly shook her head.

"It's all over for us…" she moaned.

Knuckles was briefly taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"I've just received a message from my boss. This space colony ARK is currently approaching the planet at an incredible velocity. It probably…will impact the world…"

That explained the massive vibrations…There was a random crackling in the background, apparently emitting from a screen. The trio whirled around the see that same thing Dr. Eggman was currently witnessing. Knuckles was the one to ask the big question.

"What's that on the screen…?"

Gerald Robotnik continued his long death speech, voice just as malicious-sounding as before. _"I plan to give you all a taste of my revenge, once the seven Chaos Emeralds are collected."_

Tails and Amy had joined in watching the screen, too stunned to even speak to any one.

_"Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss and despair."_

"Is there anything else you want to say?" a second voice, most likely belonging to a soldier, asked.

"No."

"What's going on here? Who is that?" Amy questioned.

"Hey, the vibration's getting worse!" Knuckles yelled, now being shaken all over the place.

"Professor Gerald Robotnik, one of the greatest scientific minds in the world…and my grandfather." Eggman responded to Amy, now entering the room.

"What? I knew you were behind all this!" Knuckles shouted, pointing a fist in Eggman's direction. "Stop it right now or else-"

"I'd have done this a long time ago if I had the chance," Eggman replied sharply.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, walking up to Knuckles and glancing at Eggman wryly.

"You're pretty persistent for a hedgehog, aren't you? You're still alive!"

"Ha, just letting Knuckles pilot the shuttle on the way over here was more dangerous than you could ever be!"

"Yeah- wait, hey!"

Eggman ignored Sonic's claim and Knuckles' irrelevant outburst to hand something to Rouge.

"What's this?"

"This is my grandfather's diary…"

It was a small black square disk that Rouge put into the computer, leaving everyone wondering what it contained. Once it popped up on the screen, Rouge began to read.

"I don't quite know what happened, or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to created the ultimate life form? I thought it would be something that would benefit mankind…but then the military guards landed on the colony that day. They were sent to destroy the research project I had been working on. My colleagues at the research facility, my granddaughter, Maria…I hope you are all safe."

. .

_The colony was completely shut down, probably to keep the prototype from falling into the wrong hands. The ARK was shut down under the premise that there had been an accident. I found Maria's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me, and I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research. I lost everything! I had nothing more to live for! I went insane!_

_Revenge…that's all that matters to me now._

_All I could think about was to avenge her…somehow…someway. I got scared as I was no longer able to control my thoughts. All I could think about was that I wanted it all to end! Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project, Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure. I will leave everything to him. If you wish, release and awaken it to the world…_

_. ._

"If you wish to fill the world with destruction…so that's why you released Shadow from the base!"

Rouge turned to Eggman, whose expression proved that she was right. He quickly changed the subject pertaining to the situation at hand.

"The core of the Eclipse Cannon is now highly reactive and explosive! This is because the energy of the Chaos Emeralds is overpowered. If the colony collides into the world, it will shatter into pieces like my grandfather predicted. That mad scientist!"

"That should be you, right?" Amy interrupted.

"We have to stop the Space Colony now!" Tails cried.

"The Space Colony ARK position may have shifted due to the amount of energy given off by the Emeralds. We have to stop the energy!"

Tails was lost in deep thought. "But how?"

Rouge had her back turned when she thought of a solution. She had to do her part to help too. But wow, she couldn't believe it…

_"The Master Emerald contains special powers that neutralize the energy of the Chaos Emeralds! That makes it very powerful."_

"Hmm…That's it! There is a way to stop the energy!" she whirled around to Knuckles, who took a step back from the sudden action. "We have to use your Emerald! You're the one that told me that the Master Emerald has the power to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Knuckles didn't know what to be more stunned at- the fact she remembered that, or at how she had said "your Emerald". However, she did have a point, so he pulled it out of his spines, in its shrunken state.

"That's right! If I use this, I just might be able to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Tails typed in a few things on the computer and brought up a schematic of the ARK. "The reaction of the Chaos Emeralds is moving toward the Cannon's Core! It may be too late!"

"There still may be some time left, if we pull together." Eggman stated. "We might be able to get to the shortcut that leads to the core!"

Sonic struck a pose and gave his classic thumbs up. "No worries! Just leave it to me! I'm the world's fastest hedgehog!"

"Then let's get to work."


	18. Down to the Very Core

Live and Learn

Chapter 17: Down to the Very Core

"Remember, if we fail, an entire planet will perish, and so will we!" Eggman bellowed as everyone rushed to take action.

"Let's do this!" Tails cried, jumping back into his walker and taking off toward the core. It was his job to clear the way for Sonic and Knuckles, with future help from Eggman and Rouge. Right now, he was blasting down lasers and taking down doors that were in the way.

_"All right Tails. Now destroy the security door leading to the Cannon's Core!"_ Eggman exclaimed to him via communicator.

"All right! This shouldn't take long at all! Targets sighted!"

Tails headed down a long, luminescent hallway, blowing up a blue goo creature at the end. A few security robots appeared once the next door was breached. Moments later Tails had disarmed them with a few well-placed bullets before taking off toward an elevator. Security had backup, as Tails quickly found out. He was blasting things his entire way down!

"Wow, Gerald really didn't want any one to stop him…" he trailed, reaching the final stop. It was sealed off door, with packs of dynamite strapped to it. Tails simply let those explode and burst the door themselves. He hovered across, then made his way down another purplish-hall.

"Here we go!"

He sprung off the edge of the hall, which ultimately lead to nothing in particular. Tails let himself fall until he reached the next -seemingly unreachable- door, detonated the dynamite then flew into the following area.

"The main security door guarding the Cannon's Core should be just ahead!"

_"Ok Tails! There should be a security door somewhere in the room! You need to destroy it!"_

"Roger that, Eggman!"

_"Call me Robotnik! Grr…"_

Tails slightly twitched. After the throw down they had previously, he was surprised to be saying such a thing to Eggman. However, the door was straight ahead, which he found to be a little anti-climatic, but he blasted it to pieces anyway…and came in contact with a couple of robots. Tails rushed off to the side then put them out of commission with a single laser. He finished clearing the way and gave Eggman the a-okay.

"All right, now it's my turn…"

Eggman entered the breached area, now on his way to unlock yet another door so Rouge could strike. More of his grandfather's creations sprung out to attack, but Eggman's attacks were stronger. They were left in shambles on the ground as the doctor proceeded onto the next elevator.

"I can't believe I'm actually working on the good side…" Eggman grumbled. Although, what he perceived as good wasn't the same as everyone else's. It was the concept, he supposed. But, technically, he wasn't on the good side if he was doing it for selfish purposes like saving himself! Yeah…that would work in case anyone tried to ask.

Eggman cautiously and intelligently worked his way over a pit of green acid via black moving blocks, helping him safely reach the other side. The door to the seceding area whooshed open to a purple hallway like what Tails had traveled through.

"I should be getting close to my destination."

Eggman took off the edge of the hall, falling down a long pit armed with lasers and acid at the bottom. He sweat dropped.

"Why do I get the death trap…all I need to do is get zapped once and I'll face an acidy death."

Nevertheless, he managed to make it toward the bottom safely and fly into the hidden chamber where the next door was.

_"Great, Eggman! There should be a security door somewhere in this room!"_ Tails announced cheerfully.

"I see it…" Eggman grumbled, hoping up a few ledges to come to a similar door to what Tails destroyed. With one photon blast the door collapsed upon itself, but there were two guarding this particular passage.

"Hmph, I hardly count that as buffed up security…"

Another devastating blast and the way was clear for Rouge. As she made her way in, Eggman informed her of her mission.

"Rouge! There should be an emergency switch in the dome to drain the liquid out of the core! See if you can find it…"

"Not a problem!" Rouge confirmed as she dropped into the blistering hot area. This was going to be a challenge- even the walls were shifting around! From her watch point on one of the pillars in the room, she scanned around for a possible place for where the switch could be. "Perhaps a higher view would do some good…"

Using her amazing bat-climbing ability, Rouge flew to a higher pillar, climbed that, then flew to another and climbed up that one. At the top was a switch of sorts, but she wasn't sure if it was her designated emergency switch. Taking a chance, she whacked it and it was as if everything inside the dome stopped.

"Did I hit it?"

_"No, you've briefly paused the flow of lava! You should be able to reach a hidden path in the room now!"_ Tails informed. Rouge glanced down to see a new opening and flew into it, almost instantly coming in contact with a robot. She performed her Tornado Spin and sliced it in two with her foot!

"Here I come!" Rouge giggled, entering the area and finding the real switch in a pretty obvious place. She gave it a kick and the dome surrounding the real shut-off button collapsed.

_"Good job Rouge! Hurry, throw the switch and drain the liquid!"_

"This'll be even easier!" Rouge chuckled, doing a cartwheel then flying back to the first area. Another switch was pressed to briefly freeze the lava, giving her the chance to escape, head to the center, and hit the drainage switch. An automated system instantly wailed like a siren and echoed along the walls, Rouge knowing her job to help had been done. Now Knuckles could get to the area that was recently blocked off by the liquid!

_"Knuckles? Can you hear me?" _Eggman asked, unsure if it was the wisest thing to do to give Knuckles technology.

"I can hear you just fine…" Knuckles trailed, swimming in the now non-lethal liquid.

_"The last security door to the core should be in front of you! Find the switch that opens the door!"_

"That way Sonic and I can get to the core…" Knuckles thought as he held in his breath and took a dive. Right next to where he submerged himself was a switch. Thinking it to be the right one, he hit it, but nothing happened.

"Huh- oh snap!"

Knuckles sprung out of the liquid and made a mad dash for a place that was closed off by lasers until he hit the current switch. AT the last second he made a daring leap into it, just barely making it as the laser repositioned themselves. Knuckles somersaulted to a stop, sweat dropping. He found a hook, grabbed it, and a little too easily he found the switch that unblocked the security door. Or did it?

Knuckles hurried back to get out of _that_ sector before the lasers turned on again and dove back into the liquid. A new area was free, that was for sure, but as Knuckles swam through he wasn't so sure it was the security door.

Which would have been perfect though, seeing how Sonic couldn't swim.

_"Knuckles! I found the switch on the radar! The security door control switch is accessible from the waterway over there."_

"Them I'm on a roll!"

He found yet another switch, but considering it looked like all the others, he was still wary that it actually unlocked the security door. Nevertheless, a new way was opened and he took it. The area he was in now suddenly shot lasers out from the walls the second he showed up. He was so busy trying to avoid the lasers and swim downward, he forget he needed air! Moving quite quickly now, he moved like a dolphin through a water vent, which was at the moment turned off because of yet another switch hit.

"oh man…" Knuckles' lungs were begging for air at this point. He swam into the final room and straight into an air bubble, which gave him brief relief. Thank goodness the official switch was next to him. Promptly hitting it, the security door was finally unlocked and Knuckles could get the heck out of there.

"Initiate final defense systems.' the alarm bellowed.

"All right! Thanks Knuckles!" Sonic called as he made his way into the core. "Better not wait too long!"

_"Sonic! Get past the energy field to get to the core. You're our last chance. We're depending on you!"_

"No pressure."

Sonic spin dashed into three blue goo creatures before tearing down another hall. Man, the place could literally only be described as "shifty". Every time Sonic blinked the walls and the floor would look different! It was enough to make anyone dizzy!

Except Sonic- he thought it was pretty sweet.

"Ready…GO!"

Sonic went on a spin dashing rampage, barreling into several enemies and practically bouncing down the hall. He leapt up and grabbed a pipe over head, sliding down.

"Too bad there's no reverse gravity in this room, heh heh…"

_"Sonic! You should have cleared the electrical disturbance. It's all up to you now!"_

"Thanks, Eggy!"

_"Don't make me change my mind about all this helping business…"_

Sonic snickered before falling into a river of the draining liquid, nearly panicking but then realizing it was shallow enough to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

"Wow, Eggman and Tails weren't kidding…what's all this from anyway?" Sonic then blinked. "Eh…I guess it's not really relevant, is it? As long as it gets me to where I need to be…"

Finally, at long last, Sonic was washed into the core of the Eclipse Cannon. It was exotic looking, that was for sure, but before Sonic could even think about saving the world…

…he really needed to dry off. And wait for Knuckles.

**ARK: Abandoned Lab**  
**Colony impact: 19 minutes 50 seconds-**

"I hate it when they leave me behind!" Amy shouted, now wandering aimlessly around the ARK since she was the only one of the group not part of the "search and destroy" mission. All she could do was hope they could stop the ARK while she got to experience the aftermath of whatever happened, whether being for the better or the worse. During her rampage through the ARK, Amy took a few steps back and entered a certain room.

"Hey, it's Shadow…" she then stomped her foot and put on a serious look. "I've really got to stop whining! Everyone's trying their best to help out and so must I!"

She eagerly ran into the room Shadow was in, hoping to get him to help.

"Shadow! We need you! Please help us!"

"It's all going according to plan," Shadow said simply, casually, and emptily. "There is no reason for me to help them. Besides, there's no way to save anyone."

"There has to be! I know that people fight over the most trivial things…some people may be selfish, like the professor said, but they're basically good…if they try their best and never give up on their wishes! They always have a reason to be happy. That's why you should help them out. Saving them is a good thing!"

Shadow continued to stare at the window, but Amy couldn't tell that his eyes were shimmering. He also continued to say nothing. Amy clenched her fists and nearly got down on her hands and knees.

"Shadow, I beg of you, please help them out! Give them a chance!"

_~.~_

_"Shadow…I beg of you…please…do it for me…for a better future!"_

_"Maria!"_

_"For all the people that live on that planet…give them a chance to be happy…let them live for their dreams. Shadow…I know you can do it. That's the reason why you were brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog…"_

_~.~_

"That's what I've promised her…and I must keep that promise! That's what Maria wished for…"

"Shadow?"

Shadow clenched his own fists and stared hard. "I gotta go now. I have to keep my promise to Maria…and you."

And Shadow bolted, Amy not caring that she was left behind this time.

A single tear escaped from Shadow's eye.

* * *

**If anything, the best part of this chapter was the ending. ;P But hey! We're getting really close to the final boss...**


	19. Supporting Me

Live and Learn

Chapter 18: Supporting Me

**ARK: In the core**  
**Colony impact: 15 minutes 27 seconds-**

"What's that? It looks just like the shrine of the Master Emerald!" Knuckles exclaimed upon arriving. Said altar was smack dab in the middle of the room, right underneath something that resembled a pulsing machine.

"They probably designed the core like the shrine to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds!"

Sonic made an expression of determination before rushing over, Knuckles on his heels.

_"All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me…" _Gerald's voice recited. _"…will feel my loss and despair!"_

"Knuckles, here it comes!"

They both stood their ground as an earsplitting cry rang out, the sourced bursting out of the "pulsing machine". Within seconds -and a huge flash of neon green light- a huge burnt orange lizard appeared before then and howled once again. It crashed down just before Sonic and Knuckles, causing a shockwave that sent them to the ground.

"Whoa!"

"Calm down. I'm not going to let that monster get a hold of the Master Emerald. But could this be the prototype of the ultimate life form that was supposed to be encapsulated?"

Wow, Sonic thought. Knuckles knew was he was talking about, that was for sure!

"How are we supposed to fend that thing off and get the Emerald to the shrine?"

"Leave this one to me…" murmured Shadow, suddenly appearing on the scene. Sonic's jaw dropped as Shadow calmly walked toward the creature.

"Shadow, what are you doing?"

"I'll take care of this while you run to get the Chaos Emeralds!"

Sonic and Knuckles gave a nod then bolted for the shrine. The Biolizard roared and went to swing its tail at them, but Shadow shot a Chaos Spear to direct its attention to him.

"They aren't worth the challenge…fight me instead if you dare."

Biolizard prepared to swat at Shadow, but Shadow, being pretty quick himself, managed to skate a considerable distance away. When it turned its head, Shadow instantly saw an attacking opportunity and teleported over. A green wire (Or what Shadow assumed to be a wire) stretched from the Biolizard's neck lead to its back, leaving it fully available to be grinded on. Shadow rode all the way to the top, striking the flashing red button on its back and making it roar out in pure pain. Now all of the Biolizard's attention was solely on Shadow. It tried to snap at Shadow once again, but being too big and too small that failed dramatically. However it started chasing Shadow with its tail, to which Shadow would have been struck if he didn't turn on a dime. He jumped up, getting some impressive airtime, then sent some Chaos Spears to rain down on the creature. They struck its back like lighting, Shadow covering his ears from the impending screech.

"This thing isn't worthy enough to even be called the prototype of the ultimate life form…"

Shadow did a backflip to get away from "electrifying blue globs" the Biolizard hacked up, not wanting to even step in it, let alone damaged by. He rolled under one in the air and jetted over to the neck- the "grind wire" was reachable once more. Shadow even gave a slight grin as he dealt another blow to the lizard, damaging it more than ever and having to deal with its insane howl.

"Gyooooaaaarhhhh!"

Suddenly, red beams materialized out of nowhere beside its head, aimed to crash down on Shadow. The ebony hedgehog evaded with ease, practically dancing around where the beams touched down on the ground. Out of frustration, the Biolizard slammed its foot down, making a large splash in the puddle he was stomping around it. Shadow had leapt up to make another attack, only the get drenched seconds later.

"Puh! Ptoo! Ugh…" Shadow attempted to shake the water off like a dog and glared menacingly at his somewhat brother. "Now you've made me angry!"

He curled up into a ball like Sonic would then blasted upwards, using Sonic's technique to his advantage- he began charging light.

_To the pressure, everything's just like,_

_An illusion, I'll be losing you, before long..._

Shadow gasped as he flung himself into his foe, feeling a wave of…surprise wash over him. Something…he had a feeling that something was going to happen, and it involved him, and his promise to Maria. He was going to fulfill it, even if he had to give his life to do it. Shadow froze. His purpose in life was to make people happy, and protect the world, for Maria…what would happen afterwards? His duty would be fulfilled, and there'd be no more need for the Ultimate Life form…

Shadow had realized that the problem solved itself, but the thought was knocked out of him by the massive tail of the furious Biolizard. It summoned more red beams, but this time around, they were like…solid bubbles. Shadow got his mind back into the battle an ricocheted from one sphere to the next, until he had a clear spin dash shot of the weak point.

In one last attempt to save itself, the Biolizard somehow altered the air around, hoping to repeal Shadow away with the messed-up gravity. This backfired greatly when Shadow himself was pulled closer to the lizard (along with the thousand red spheres) and seized the chance to completely K.O. it.

"RAAAAWWRRR!"

It threw its head back as far as it could go before slamming to the ground in defeat. Now that gravity wasn't somehow messed up, Shadow fell out of the air and into the puddle. He quickly sprung out of it, rapidly spun around in ball form to dry off, then stood up and hissed,

"Get out you UGLY prototype!"

Just as Shadow had finished taking care of the Biolizard, Sonic and Knuckles had safely reached the top of the shrine. A flashing pad in the middle practically told Knuckles to place the Master Emerald there, which he did after enlarging it to full size. Then, he started to recite the chant that Tikal had memorized so long ago…

"I must remember…The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unified the Chaos…"

"You can do it Knuckles," Sonic assured, light-hearted but serious all the same. Knuckles took a determined deep breath and continued, raising his hands as if to summon the power inside his sacred jewel.

"Master Emerald, I need your help. Only you can do this! Stop the Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles took a few steps back and shielded his eyes as the Master Emerald emerged into a blinding state. Its power was working overtime- blue lightning crackled from the gem. As the procedure was going on (and promptly finishing with the Chaos Emeralds falling uselessly onto the floor), the Biolizard screamed another inhumane scream, both heroes turning to see what was happening now.

"RRAAAAAAAWWWRRR!"

It disappeared into a blue light- but where did it go and just HOW did it do that?

"It's gone…"

"Chaos Control…" Shadow grunted, mentally smacking himself for realizing that of course the prototype of himself also had that ability.

"Since we stopped the Chaos Emeralds, why is the space colony still on a crash course toward the planet?" Knuckles questioned as the ARK shook even more violently than before. Knuckles eventually fell over, Shadow maintained his balance by staying low, and Sonic somehow managed to keep himself still.

_"Come in, Sonic! Do you read me? That monster prototype is still alive, and he's controlling the space colony as its falling to the planet! He's become one with the ARK, and determined to keep it on its collision course!"_ Eggman announced over the intercom.

"Sonic…?" Knuckles trailed, gulping. Sonic turned to Shadow, who gave a look in return. It was like they were silently agreeing with something. Knuckles, feeling left out of the loop, just stared on, wondering what they were going to do.

They walked toward each other, each raising one of their hands and standing face to face. Sonic and Shadow then stood side to side, calling forth the Chaos Emeralds. All seven of them floated into a circle above their heads, now spinning around the duo as they attempted to take in their power. Knuckles stared wide-eyed as the Emeralds rotated faster and faster, Sonic and Shadow closing their eye shuts and vibrating thanks to the Chaos. Seconds later, their eyes shot open as they started to float in the air, Sonic turning a pure gold color and his eyes morphing into a ruby red to match Shadow's while Shadow's black fur coloring faded to white with a shimmering gleam.

It was literally all up to Super Sonic and Super Shadow now.

* * *

**Holy cow, the last chapter is next week...**


	20. Live and Learn

Live and Learn

Chapter 19: Live and Learn

"Sonic, Shadow…can you hear me?" Eggman asked, hoping his voice would reach them outside the ARK. "He's very weak without his life support system. Aim for the red swelling areas to damage him. You're our last hope!"

The two hedgehogs-gone-super had teleported outside of the ARK, just as the prototype of the Ultimate Life Form had done. Sonic was subconsciously aware that they had just plain left Knuckles behind, but, in a way, maybe that's how it was meant to be. The Finalhazard was attached to the ARK, just as Eggman had said, and was continuing to pull it toward the planet. The two were flying around like comets, trying to decide on the first place to strike. However, Finalhazard was the one to obtain the first move and shot a laser at the duo. They moved in opposite directions to avoid the attack, the laser continuing to fly off and spiraling deeper into space.

Sonic could feel how much energy was radiating from the beam, and it reminded him of the ones that Perfect Chaos shot at him back when they brawled. He smiled lightly. Perhaps this fight would be just as entertaining as the last- you know, without falling into an endless ocean and with another hedgehog by his side.

"Let's give it our best shot!" Shadow exclaimed, snapping Sonic out of his thoughts. The yellow hedgehog nodded seriously in response.

"All right. We can go in at full speed and finish it off!"

That was the plan, but at the moment they still had to wear it down, _just_ a bit. Like a combined bolt of lightning, the two struck the back of the Finalhazard- it was still the weak point, and that was currently where the red swelling Eggman had pointed out was located. The Finalhazard let out a roar that sounded like it belonged to a lion.

"Okay! I'll take it from here!" Sonic called, letting Shadow take a bit of a breather. "I'm going to see what I can do!"

Shadow gave a nod and flew into the Finalhazard's line of sight, keeping its attention away from Sonic. Sonic wasted no time in preparing to strike again- it wasn't that hard, considering the Finalhazard couldn't really attack while he was attached to the a space colony. The red swelling area emerged on its neck, which Shadow quickly motioned Sonic to. Receiving the signal, Sonic curled up into a ball and hurled himself at the swelling. The monstrosity screeched again.

Sonic pumped a fist upwards in victory. "All right!"

"Sonic! Leave it to me! I'll destroy it!" Shadow announced, letting Sonic know it was his turn now.

"Where does it get all that power?" Sonic pondered as Shadow flew in for the kill. "Is this the power of the Chaos Emeralds?"

There was no other plausible explanation, but Knuckles had powered the Emeralds down…though that didn't mean the Finalhazard couldn't take the energy anyway, Shadow supposed.. He then focused all his energy on locating the next swelling area…while avoiding red lasers that jetted out of the Finalhazard's back.

"He may be the prototype of the Ultimate Life, but I'm not about to call that thing my brother no matter what," Shadow sneered as he slammed his foot into the red swelling on the neck. Finalhazard cringed in pain and smacked Shadow away, sending him toppling into space. Sonic flew over in a flash and caught him before he drifted too far away.

"Shadow! Are you ok?"

"Gr…I'll distract it now- you go in to attack it. It's up to you now, Sonic," Shadow stated, mad that he wasn't able to destroy it like originally planned. He grabbed his slightly sore arm and turned to the hedgehog, taking off toward the fiend again. "Sonic…how can you throw yourself into situations like this?"

"I believe in my future," Sonic stated, flying down and circling another attack from the lizard/ark combo monster. "It's worth fighting for…it's worth keeping people free and happy, you know. And alive."

Shadow blinked and trembled slightly. "Just like what Maria believed…"

He then shook it off and shot a Chaos Spear at the head. Finalhazard roared (opening its mouth) and Shadow shot another Spear into its maw. It literally howled now, and it only got worse as Sonic easily made his way toward the tail where the next swelled area had popped up.

"Yeah, take that you creep!"

"Can both of you hear me?" Eggman asked, contacting them again. "Atmosphere entry in about 4 minutes!"

"We've got to hurry!" Shadow stated. "It's mad at you now Sonic- avert its attention away from me!"

"Rodger that Shadow!" Sonic gave a salute before taking off. He veered away from two beams, which briefly crossed into each other, trying to keep the lizard focused on him and him alone. He even dared to zoom right in front of its face and make several taunting expressions at it. Sonic's job was successfully- the Finalhazard was doing his best to smack Sonic right out of the sky by striking him with its head. Shadow meanwhile flew around, looking for the next weak point.

"It's on the neck again!" Sonic informed him, only to be hit by a beam. The golden hedgehog was blasted a good distance away, the Finalhazard seeming to pay more attention to Sonic that it was to Shadow. Shadow gasped, then charged straight into the Finalhazard before helping Sonic. Sonic would have slipped into unconsciousness if it wasn't for Shadow grabbing his arm and shaking him.

"Sonic, you all right?"

"Oog…wasn't the worst hit I've taken, that's for sure."

Shadow's gaze softened the slightest bit. _"I'm gonna be desperate, it was my place to live, but now I need your hand..."_

Sonic pulled himself together, not hearing Shadow's silent musings to no one in particular. "Let me give it a try!"

"Sonic, we're in danger! The colony will enter the atmosphere in 3 minutes!" Knuckles roared into the intercom. Moments later, you could hear Rouge smacking him in the head for yelling at him for "putting the pressure on them", followed by intense bickering. Sonic and Shadow rolled their eyes as they separated for their next attack. Now three lasers were aimed at the duo, also with more of the explosive spheres. Shadow snapped his fingers and detonated them all with massive explosions, clearing the way for Sonic up a little. The other hero was still searching for the weak spot, also trying to avoid be bitten by the Finalhazard. He left a golden trail behind as he weaved his way around the lasers, and it was almost he equivalent of a light show.

"The leg Sonic!" Shadow broadcasted, pointing at it while punching the creep in the eye. Finalhazard now swung its head at Shadow, effectively sending him spiraling once again. Sonic scowled and made a dash for the leg, twirling around yet another laser destined to kill him. He gave the swelling in the leg a hard kick, hoping Finalhazard would feel unlimited pain. Once he was finished, he turned around to Shadow was currently curling up into ball form.

"Shadow, I think you should-"

"Here I come, you creep!"

Shadow blasted by Sonic before the golden hedgehog could even finish his sentence.

"Erm, all right then…"

Shadow roared menacingly, willing to cast a little revenge on the Finalhazard instead of the entire world. It was entirely surrounded by red spheres, plus the lasers jetting out of its back. Sonic distracting the fiend wouldn't help any, unfortunately, so Shadow just went solo. Unlike Sonic's golden sheen, Shadow was enveloped with a shimmering silver shine as he tore through outer space. He waited for the right moment to attack, cautiously making his way toward the Finalhazard. His "not brother" was watching Shadow carefully, also waiting for a chance to strike as well.

"All right! This is working! Sonic! How are you doing?"

"Almost got it!"

Sonic began to fly back over, only to dart away when two beams nearly fried him out of nowhere, also blocking his original course of action. He frowned, then flung himself to the other side of the hazard.

"What the- POOMPH!"

The Finalhazard was getting increasing smarter- now he was sending the red spheres in all directions in an attempt to repel the attacking hedgehogs, and one had managed to strike Sonic in the gut and knock the wind out of him. At the same time, it exploded upon contact and sent Sonic spiraling once again. Even Shadow cringed as Sonic was beaten like a nerd with no lunch money. Shadow turned to the Finalhazard, who seemed content with the amusing display. Shadow scowled and repeatedly snapped his fingers. With each snap, one of the spheres would instantly implode before reaching Sonic, who was on course for several of them during his tumble. Sonic glanced over his shoulder to ask what was going on when he had a chance, Shadow replying with: "Chaos Snap. Hush-hush ability."

Sonic didn't press on that issue anymore and maneuvered his way through the path Shadow had "snapped up". The next task was to figure out where the heck the swelling was at.

"Do you see the weak spot, Shadow?" Sonic called.

"No! Keep- oh wait the tail! At the tip!"

"Got it!"

Sonic headed back to the Finalhazard and located the weak spot once again. Sonic performed a spin dash and plowed straight into the swelling located on the side of its body. The current roar let both Sonic and Shadow know it was almost done for!

"We're good to go now, Shadow!"

"All right!" Shadow huffed, looking a bit tired out. Sonic turned to him, concerned.

"Shadow? Your power is getting weaker! Hey, are you okay?"

Shadow nodded, straining to keep his power up. "I'm fine…we just need to focus on finishing this thing off and saving the planet!"

Sonic thought nothing more of it and prepared the next blow, Shadow slightly turning away to hide in insecure frown. As fast as he obtained it, the frown was gone, and he and Sonic charged again. They both flew around each other, easily evading everything the Finalhazard had left to throw. Even the creation knew that it was nearing defeat. When they had gained enough speed, they rocketed across the sky like two shooting stars toward the Finalhazard's head, where the last bit of swelling resided.

"Can you both hear me?" Now Amy's voice called. "The ARK is close to the planet! Please hurry!"

Sonic turned to Shadow, Shadow turned to Sonic, and both exchanged a nod before flying straight into the Finalhazard, doing the last blow, and hopefully securing the safety of the planet. Now that it hardly had any life to sustain itself on, The Finalhazard went limp, dangling from the side of the ARK. Sonic and Shadow slapped a high five.

"Did you really think you had a chance?" scoffed Sonic confidently.

"Hmph, I knew you were nothing but a pathetic prototype…" Shadow grumbled as well. After their small celebration, they turned back to look at the ARK- it was STILL falling!

"You're stopping right here!" Sonic shouted, freezing in place and trying to propel the ARK away from the planet. Shadow growled, fearing that the promise may not be fulfilled after all and did the same as Sonic. "No way that's getting through!"

"You can do it, Sonic!" Tails called, giving as much support as he could.

"Give it all you've got, Shadow!" Eggman exclaimed.

"If you fail, the entire planet will be destroyed!" added Rouge.

"Tough it out, you guys!" Knuckles growled encouragingly.

"You can do it!" cried Amy.

"We know you can!"

"_Shadow…they need you Shadow…"_ Maria's voice echoed in Shadow's head, causing his eyes to widen and begin to shimmer. _"Shadow I beg of you…"_

"Maria…"

_"…give them a chance to be happy…"_

Shadow's awestruck look morphed into one of determination as he glanced at Sonic. "Are you still confident about this?"

"I never lose my confidence," Sonic chuckled. Shadow smiled lightly.

"I know you were supporting me, but I'll be losing you before long…" Hesitating, Shadow glanced at Sonic again. His eyes were so full of life, and the same could be said about his spirit…if things were going to turn out the way Shadow had predicted them, he had better tell Sonic was he needed to say here and now. "Sonic, I'm not the Ultimate Life form…I think it's you!"

Sonic stared at Shadow quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

Shadow shook his head, disregarding the thought and the concept, and took a firm grip on his gold bracelets. "All this time...I was wrong about Maria's wishes, which to me, was the biggest mistake I've ever made. This is the only way to make sure what's done is right!"

He removed both from his wrists, the two around his ankles bursting off as Shadow's true power was unleashed. Sonic gave a surprised sort of laugh.

"Looks like you went from revenge-bent to a true hero..."

"Sonic, you and your friends have taught me..." Shadow's voice seemed to be on the verge of cracking. "...you can't hang onto the edge of tomorrow because of the works of yesterday. Keep moving forward..."

"Hold onto what if- that's how you live and learn..." Sonic replied, still smiling. Shadow was too, but his was now an empty sort of smile, not as bright as Sonic's. "What's the matter Shads? We're going to save the world! Perk up!"

Shadow just backed away silently, his aura shining even brighter than ever before. He refused to answer, though he very well knew what was bound to happen. "Hurry Sonic, time is running out! You know what we've got to do! You ready?"

Sonic also backed away, charging up his own power. "You bet! Here we go!"

"CHAOS-" "-CONTROL!"

The ARK was absorbed by the massive teleporting ability Sonic and Shadow unleashed, and they somehow managed to warp it back into its original orbit. The world…it was finally safe! The cheers could be heard from all around the world…they were all saved because of Sonic and Shadow. Even Sonic had no idea how they pulled it off. He looked over to Shadow to start up their celebrating again, only to be rewarded with the sight of Shadow toppling out of the sky, unconscious…but content.

_"Maria…this is what you wanted right? This is my promise I made to you…"_

And with that, Shadow was gone.

. . .

Sonic reentered the ARK, everyone gathered in the center of the room discussing the battle of epic proportions that they had witnessed. They expected Sonic and Shadow to enter the room triumphantly, having prevented a premature death for the world. Instead, the first thing they noticed was that Sonic was not his usual cocky self after saving the day- he stared hard at the ground, swimming in turmoil that he masked from the others, and the second that his partner in heroism was not with him.

"Where is Shadow?" Rouge asked quietly, fearing the worst. Everyone looked on, waiting for Sonic's answer. Sonic said nothing- he only continued to glance down and shook his head sadly. However, he walked over to Rouge and handed her one of Shadow's power rings. He had managed to grab it after Shadow's lifeless hand had let it go, leaving it to drift in space. It was they had of Shadow. He gave Rouge an apologetic glance as well as they both turned to look out the window. There was no need to explain what had happened in reality.

"Do you really think the professor created him, Shadow, to carry out the revenge on all those who live here?" Rouge wondered, her voice so silent that only Sonic could hear her.

"He was what he was; a brave and heroic hedgehog," Sonic replied with a small, sad smile. "He gave his life to save the planet. Shadow the Hedgehog…"

Rouge looked into her hand at Shadow's power ring. It would definitely be a permanent reminder of what Shadow had to give up. She glazed up into the sky and heaved a sigh. "I guess you're right."

. . .

"As a child, I looked up to my grandfather because of all the great things he accomplished in science," Eggman explained to Tails solemnly on the other side of the room. The whole escapade he had caused and the near death experience gave him a new outlook on things. "He was my hero, and I wanted to be a great scientist like him. But…did he really mean to destroy us?"

Tails was feeling a tad bit guilty, being told what Eggman's dream_ really_ was, and how it had been crushed. He perked up a little as he replied with, "I don't know, but what I do know is…we all saved the world together!"

Even Eggman managed a grin. "You're right."

. ..

Rouge had walked over to Knuckles, leaving Sonic to ponder things on his own and to see what Knuckles was up to now. He noticed her come over, slightly turned away, then turned back around again, trying to act casual.

"So what's next for you, Rouge? Off again to find those jewels you love so much?"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna give up this line of work. Too much work for too little pay." She then genuinely smiled for the first time in long time. "Anyway, I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now. It'll all work out. You'll see."

Knuckles chuckled. "If you say so."

. . .

"Created the ultimate life form…" Sonic mused aloud, thinking over some of Shadow's last words. Amy walked over and cocked her head.

"What's the matter Sonic?"

Sonic looked up, saw Amy, then shook his head.

"Aw, it's nothing. Come on, let's go home to the planet that's as cool and blue as me!"

Everyone eagerly agreed with that, and solemnly yet calmly walked out the door. The only one who displayed any sort of sadness now was Sonic, who, just before he left the ARK, glanced over his shoulder and gave a wave. It would be hard to walk away from this adventure, but what else could he do? He wouldn't dwell on the past like his fallen friend once had, but the important thing was to never let the memories fade either. Sonic's emerald eyes glanced over his shoulder once again as he said one last thing...so soft that it was like the wind had whispered it.

"Sayonara…Shadow the Hedgehog."

* * *

**I never really understood the hype behind Sonic Adventure 2, but...I guess I can say I now know why people must have loved it so much. (I still think the first Adventure is better, though. But that's just me. ^^;) **

**So yeah, another Sonic adaption out of the park...what's next for me? Finishing the Sonic Unleashed one so I can work on a new one! ...or two. ;D**


End file.
